Kiko on SONA seating row: Don’t blame us

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said yesterday that his family is not to blame that they were seated at the VIP gallery while the children of Sen. Luisa Ejercito-Estrada were seated in the media gallery.

His wife Sharon Cuneta, their baby Francesca or Frankie, a baby-sitter, and his step-daughter KC, Sharon Cuneta’s daughter by actor Gabby Conception, occupied the front row of the VIP gallery during the opening session of the 12th Congress last Monday morning.

On the other hand, Senator Estrada’s children, Jude and Jackie, and Jackie’s husband Beaver Lopez were seated in the media gallery. The secretariat said only Jude could sit at the VIP gallery as the senators are allowed only one immediate family member each in that gallery.

Jude decided to sit in the media gallery when he could not convince the secretariat to allow Jackie and Beaver to join him in the VIP gallery. They reportedly felt bad and discriminated against when a yaya and step-daughter of Pangilinan, aside from Sharon Cuneta, were allowed to enter the gallery.

"Mas pinahalagahan pa nila ang yaya ng anak ni Kiko kaysa sa mga anak ni Doktora Loi (They gave more importance to the nanny of Kiko’s baby than to the children of Dr. Loi)," said former Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez, Ejercito’s chief of staff.

Pangilinan, on the other hand, defended the members of his family, saying that they were innocent bystanders in that VIP gallery incident.

"They were ushered into the VIP gallery. If there is any complaint, it should be directed to the secretariat," he added.

Rodriguez said that he and others close to Senator Estrada have nothing against Pangilinan but, rather, against the Senate secretariat.

"If they say that only one member of a senator’s family can sit at the VIP gallery, then they should implement this without any exception to avoid suspicions of discrimination," he stressed.

He said that Jude had offered his seat in the VIP gallery to him, but he refused.

"It would be awkward and inappropriate for a chief-of-staff to sit at the VIP gallery while the children of a senator were seated elsewhere," Rodriguez explained.