Senators Antonio Trillanes IV (left) and Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson wouldn’t take sitting down his colleague Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s harsh remark against the Senate.
“Calling one’s own colleagues ‘cowards’ or ‘puppets’ wholesale and without qualifying, is the darndest thing he can do,” Lacson said in a text message to reporters on Monday.
Lacson made the reaction a few hours after Trillanes said at the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel that the Senate as an institution is merely becoming a lapdog of President Duterte and his administration.
READ: Trillanes says Senate merely a lapdog of Duterte admin
Without giving any names, Trillanes called some senators, particularly those heading committees, “cowards” for refusing to investigate issues that would hurt Duterte and his administration.
“‘Yung Senado na dating last bastion of democracy, ngayon wala na. Para na rin kaming mga tuta ng administrasyon na ‘to. Ni ayaw mag-imbestiga eh. Dito ka makakakita ng mga senador na takot. Kaalyado ka na lang kasi ayaw mong aminin na takot ka eh,” Trillanes said.
(The Senate which is the bastion of democracy is no more. We are merely lapdogs of the administration. We don’t engage in investigation anymore. Here you can find senators who have no courage. They must admit it…they are afraid because they are allies of Duterte.)
Aside from the Philippine National Police, the Senate was among the most damaged institutions since Duterte took office in July, he said.
In response, Lacson mocked Trillanes, saying the latter was “so out of touch with reality, if not hallucinating too much,” Lacson said. Both Lacson and Trillanes were former members of the police and military, respectively.
“I don’t know where he is coming from and I’m not even sure if he is still rationale in his thinking,” Lacson further said.
“One thing I’m sure about, he is dead wrong,” he added.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, however, said the Senate showed greater independence in the past administrations.
“As a third term senator, I have seen greater independence on the part of the Senate as an institution under previous administrations,” he said.