Trillanes scoffs at Gordon’s ethics complaint as an ‘ego problem’

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (left) clashed with Sen. Richard Gordon (right) during the hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday, August 31, 2017. INQUIRER FILES

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV branded as “just an ego problem” the complaint which Sen. Richard Gordon threatens to file against him before the Senate ethics committee.

Gordon has said that he would be filing an ethics complaint over the “offensive and unparliamentary” language used by Trillanes in the last Blue Ribbon Committee hearing. At the hearing, Trillanes accused the committee of being a “komite de abswelto.”

“Being offended is different from using offensive language. For example, if I say I get offended by the tone of voice of Senator Gordon, is that basis of an ethics complaint or is it my problem, really? So if he gets offended by my statement, then it’s just an ego problem,” Trillanes said in an interview with ANC Headstart.

Gordon was set to file a complaint on Monday and it was to be discussed in a caucus of majority senators at noon.

Gordon and Trillanes traded barbs during the investigation on the P6.4 billion shabu shipment from China that went past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in May.

Trillanes moved that the committee summon Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo and his brother-in-law Mans Carpio to explain their alleged involvement in the corrupt and smuggling activities within the agency.

But Gordon and Senate Majority leader Tito Sotto III said Duterte and Carpio’s role in the BOC’s “Davao Group,” which allegedly helped facilitate the drug shipment, should be first established with evidence before inviting them to the hearing.

At that, Trillanes tagged the committee as a “komite de abswelto” (committee of acquittal) while chiding Gordon and Sotto for purportedly lawyering for the presidential son and son-in-law.

In the TV interview, Trillanes said, “Ideally, the blue ribbon committee, (should be) there to find out the truth.” He said “everybody (in the committee) should be very interested to find out the truth.”

He then gave Senator Grace Poe, formerly the chair of the public order committee, as an example for handling impartial investigations.

“When Senator Grace Poe was chair of public order committee that investigated the Mamasapano killings, you can see the demeanor. She just came in there and she just wanted to know the truth. (former Interior) Secretary Mar Roxas was there, (former Defense secretary Voltaire) Gazmin, all the generals were there. She summoned everybody, no ifs or buts. They just opened up and in the process we were able to find out all sorts of information, that’s the objective (of an investigation),” Trillanes said. CBB