Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (left) clashed with Sen. Richard Gordon (right) during the hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday, August 31, 2017. A heated exchange erupted after Trillanes called the committee led by Gordon as ‘komite de abswelto.’ INQUIRER FILES
Tension rose between Blue Ribbon committee chair Senator Richard Gordon and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV after the latter moved to invite Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his brother-in-law Mans Carpio to the hearing on the P6.4 billion shabu shipment.
Trillanes was asserting that Duterte and Carpio be summoned in the hearing to explain after a witness alleged that the two were involved with the so-called “Davao Group” at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Witness Mark Taguba II showed the panel his exchanges of text messages with a certain “Tita Nani” where the names of “Pulong” and “Mance” were mentioned in their transaction.
Gordon and Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said Taguba should first present solid evidence before Trillanes could demand Duterte and Carpio’s presence in succeeding hearings.
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“You’re so fond of naming names and making general statements. If you want to make general statements, better prove it. This is the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. This is not a ‘cockpit of chismis.’ We’re here to investigate real things,” Gordon told Trillanes.
This irked Trillanes, tagging Gordon’s committee as a “committee de abswelto” for favoring influential personalities.
Gordon responded to him and turned to Sotto: “Majority leader, the gentleman from whatever he comes from (Trillanes), says this is a ‘committee de abswelto.’ The gentleman has been accusing everybody in the Senate of everything… In the past you got away, Senator Zubiri and you almost got into a slug fest.”
Gordon asked Sotto “to convoke the ethics committee and I will file personally ethics committee case against this gentleman from Bicol.”
Trillanes butted in, “Please do so. I welcome that.”
Gordon then told Trillanes to behave, or else he will call the Senate sergeant-at-arms to deal with him.
Trillanes did not relent. “Regarding your irrational ruling and behavior as chairman of this Blue Ribbon committee. You’ve been doing a one-man show, a monologue for several hours and you think that’s normal?”
This prompted the committee chairman to declare Trillanes out of order. “You’re out of order. I will not dignify all your one-man statements, all your observations.”
Gordon then mocked Trillanes for staging failed coup attempts.
“The trouble with this gentleman is every time he doesn’t like it, he will conduct a coup and then he will be forgiven and he will conduct another coup and then he’s forgiven again,” Gordon said, to which Trillanes replied, calling Gordon “pathetic.”
“And ikaw nag-barricade sa (And you barricaded) Subic just to hold on to your position. That’s more pathetic,” Trillanes said.
This time, Sotto intervened. He was heard telling Trillanes, “napaka-unparliamentary ng nangyayari dito. Committee niya (Gordon) ‘to, hayaan mo na siya.”
(What’s happening is very unparliamentary. This is Gordon’s committee, just let him be.)
In an ambush interview in between the hearing, the former soldier slammed Gordon and Sotto, both allies of President Duterte, and accused them of lawyering for the presidential son and Carpio. CBB/JE