Trillanes considers self ‘most productive’ despite recording lowest attendance

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

You may not see him often in the Senate but Senator Antonio Trillanes IV  still considers himself to be the “most productive” member of the chamber.

Senate records showed that during the Second Regular Session of the 17th Congress from July 2017 to May 2018, Trillanes had the lowest attendance as he was present in 52 session days out of 79 sessions.

He went on a total of 23 official missions—20 abroad and three local trips and recorded four absences or sick leaves.

“Pero ang hindi nare-report is number one ako bilang most productive senator dito sa Congress na ito,” Trillanes lamented in an interview at the Senate on Wednesday.

“So, di ba yun ang mas importante kaysa naka-attend ka nga diyan, araw-araw kang umaattend pero wala ka namang ginagawa.”

The senator said the record was a bit misleading as he was on official missions when he was out of the Senate. His official trips, he said, were also covered by a travel authority.

“But, at the end of the day ginagawa ko yung trabaho ko. Given the opportunity na imbestigahan itong mga kalabisan nitong administrasyon na ito, ginagawa ko. Sa ganitong klaseng administrasyon na baluktot, yun ang importanteng trabaho ng Senado apparently hindi na namin ginagawa,” Trillanes said.

“And on the legislative side, as I mentioned, I’m the most productive in terms of the numbers of bills filed. I’m in the top five at least sa pinakamaraming sponsored na bills. So, ginagawa ko yung trabaho ko,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the same record of the Senate showed that four senators — Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Panfilo Lacson — had perfect attendance as they were present in all 79 session days.