Senator Richard Gordon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Senator Richard Gordon said he is now considering filing an ethics complaint against Senator Leila de Lima for her alleged “unparliamentary” remarks and conduct during Monday’s Senate hearing on the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country.
“There are unparliamentary remarks made outside the session hall, made within the session hall, walking out of a committee, and then saying bad things about the committee is unparliamentary on my book,” Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights investigating the killings, said on Tuesday.
He said he himself or the committee or anybody could file the case against de Lima.
“I can’t let it pass because pinaghirapan namin yan,” Gordon said. “And here’s another point, the Senate’s reputation has been sullied. You invite all these people, you make them wait 13 hours … tapos magwa-walk out ka, tapos mayroong shenanigans e di masisira ang reputation ng Senado di ba?”
Asked if the issue would still pursue the case if de Lima would apologize, Gordon said: Nasa sa kanila yun. I would not tell anybody how to behave. Sorry is an act of concession.”
“I don’t want harm to fall upon anybody. I want a happy Senate,” he said.
De Lima has already apologized for walking out of the Senate session hall, where the committee hearing was being conducted Monday night, in the middle of a heated debate with Gordon and some committee members as she was accused of “material concealment” for her alleged failure to disclose to the committee that self-confessed assassin Edgar Matobato had been charged with kidnapping.
Matobato, who claimed to be a former member of the so-called Davao Death Squad, has accused President Rodrigo Duterte of allegedly ordering the killings of criminals and enemies when the latter was still the mayor of Davao City.
But De Lima vehemently denied the allegations by some of her colleagues that she committed “material concealment,” saying that the transcripts of their previous hearings would bear out that it was Matobato himself, who provided the committee about the case.
Gordon said the issue of “material concealment” against de Lima could be used against her.
“Yes, it’s a case, it’s a fact,” he said, responding to a reporter’s question.
Gordon though said that it would still be up to the Senate as a collegial body whether or not pursue the filing of the case against their colleague.
The issue though, he said, was already discussed during a caucus with members of the committee.
“Many members have said that it should go to the ethics committee…” Gordon said.
He said the caucus was attended by Senators Panfilo Lacson, Grace Poe, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Manny Pacquiao.