Senators slam Trillanes for calling colleagues Duterte apologists

Senators protested on Friday a colleague’s statement that some of them are “apologists” of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying it was “uncalled for” and “absurd.

During a forum in the Senate on Thursday, Trillanes lamented that some of his colleagues have already become the President’s apologists “trying to cover and offer alibis” for Duterte.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III called the remark “uncalled for.”

“Yung (The) term apologist is uncalled for dahil pwedeng (because it’s possible that) a senator is also merely airing his opinion. Ang sabi nga (As they say), ‘to each his own,’ walang pakialamanan ng opinion.”

Trillanes’ statement did not also sit well with Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, a member of the majority bloc in the Senate.

“Senators should learn how to respect colleagues. That is parliamentary courtesy,” Ejercito said in a separate text message.

“We all were given our respective mandates and therefore we are accountable to the people. It will be absurd to call senators as apologists,” he added.

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson took to Twitter to express his sentiments, also in an apparent reaction on the issue.

“Bakit kailangang lahat kaming kasama nyang senador magalit din sa presidenteng ayaw nya at kapag hindi, walang kwenta lahat kami? Ano yun?” Lacson wrote in his Twitter account Thursday night.

(Why should we, his colleagues, be also mad at the president he disagrees with, and in not doing be deemed worthless as well? What’s that?)

READ: Over 10 senators unhappy with admin, some are Duterte apologists—Trillanes

Senator Gringo Honasan cited a tradition in the chamber not to comment on their colleagues’ actions and motives “because we are a collegial and consensual body.”

“We are a democracy where opinions and comments are welcome, as we all engage in the free market of vision, ideas and leadership,” Honasan said.

“We also have a tradition in the Senate that we never comment on our colleagues’ actions and motives because we are a collegial and consensual body,” he added.

During the same forum, Trillanes also claimed that more than 10 senators were “not happy” with the directions of the present administration.

Reacting to this, Sotto said: “I don’t know where he got his count but that’s his opinion so let him say what he wants.”

Neophyte Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said he was not aware who the senators Trillanes was referring to were.

“But so far, P-Digong’s (Duterte) approval rating is 86% and his trust rating is 86% also in the most recent Pulse Asia survey,” Gatchalian said in another text message.

“That means the people are quite satisfied with his performance and they trust him,” he said.

Asked if he was happy with how Duterte runs the country, Gatchalian said what was important was the general sentiment of the Filipino people as recorded by the surveys.

“The numbers will speak for [themselves] at least for now. So far, the President is delivering on his promise to get rid of illegal drugs and suppress criminality.”

“However, I would like to see proposals to sustain this promise. It should not be [hinged] on one man. It has to be institutionalized,” Gatchalian added. CDG/rga