Miriam walks out of session

MANILA, Philippines - Even as the senators apologized for their caustic behavior, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago walked out of yesterday’s session in disgust over what she called “unparliamentary behavior” of her colleagues in last Monday’s debates in the Senate tackling the report implicating Sen. Manny Villar Jr. in the C-5 road controversy.

Santiago said she had grown “very, very, very” tired of politics with the exchange of tirades, insults and accusations among her colleagues that has literally divided the Senate.

Villar was a no-show during the debates but Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. stood to defend the beleaguered lawmaker from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and other senators who wanted to enforce Committee Report No. 780.

Enrile, who led the Committee of the Whole investigating the irregularity, read out the report recommending the censure of Villar and his reimbursement of P6.2 billion the government had spent for the project.

Santiago, who delivered her co-sponsorship speech of Resolution No. 1472 dismissing the case against Villar, said “it is with the utmost reluctance and with a profound sense of weariness that I compel myself to deliver this co-sponsorship speech, which was apparently assigned to me late last (Monday) night.”

“I have to say that (Monday’s) proceedings did not constitute the brightest moment of the Philippine Senate. Our language and behavior did not serve the nation,” Santiago said.

Santiago said Committee Report 780 must be approved by the majority of the Senate sitting as a Committee of the Whole and those comprising the ethics committee.

She said there must be 16 votes to censure Villar, not 12 as maintained by the majority.

Santiago warned her colleagues that their behavior during Monday’s plenary debates is in violation of Senate rules.

“Section 94. No senator under any circumstances shall use offensive or improper language against another senator or against any public institution,” she pointed out.

Santiago hit Enrile for saying “these so-called experts have not read the precedents in the country and in the US” in seeking two-thirds vote for the report to be upheld. She claimed she had “insulted” by Enrile.

Santiago called on Enrile to step down and emulate what Villar did in November 2008.

“I would have wanted to say that this chamber is beset by an honest difference of opinion. But if this is the kind of hostile, belligerent attitude we bring to our debate, then all of us should resign immediately, because we do not deserve to be senators,” she said.

Santiago said Enrile should not punish them for speaking freely and had always been polite in expressing a contrary legal opinion but not to the extent of insulting her colleagues... “just because my opinion happens to be different from his,” in apparent reference to Enrile.

Santiago argued the case against Villar must be dismissed because it was based merely on credible substantial evidence.

“My submission is that we should apply the standard of proof in a criminal case, which is proof beyond reasonable doubt,” Santiago said.

“We in the Senate have broken ranks, according to our political affiliations. The respondent is a presidential candidate,” she reminded her colleagues.

Vulgar words

During Monday’s session, Sen. Jamby Madrigal called Villar a coward and branded his senator allies as the “Villar Express” or a “choo-choo train of lawyers.”

Pimentel took offense with the remark and branded Madrigal an abused child.

Cayetano caught the ire of Enrile, Senators Manuel Roxas II, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Jinggoy Estrada for accusing them of politicking.

He said Enrile, Roxas and Madrigal could match the wealth of Villar if they would come together.

Madrigal shouted “corruption” many times as Cayetano called her “saling pusa” or someone unqualified to join discussions.

Enrile, for his part, apologized for the behavior of the senators during last Monday’s session.

He said it was a disappointment that the debates turned dirty because “some of my colleagues forgot to be a gentleman in their words and action.”

“And they said a lot of vulgar words even to those who are not part of the discussion. I apologize to the Filipino people for what happened,” he said.

Enrile likened last Monday’s debates to a courtroom where the lawyer, in his inability to defend his client properly, would create a commotion to divert attention from the case.

Enrile said last Monday’s heated debates are the norm in parliaments in other countries, where arguments become heated and the losing side would create a scene so the main issue would not be tackled.

Enrile lamented the C-5 report itself was no longer discussed when it was the primary issue because Villar did not come down to debate and had his allies argue for him instead.

“I told them we were okay to debate but I asked them if I could ask the accused (Villar) during the debate on the documents culled by the Committee of the Whole and which became our basis for the report,” Enrile explained.

For Sen. Joker Arroyo, the showdown should not have occurred.

“This is the most tragic thing that has happened. The Senate is now the broken Senate. They were calling names. (We) can debate on a higher level, not that way,” Arroyo said.

Pimentel, for his part, said he found no reason to apologize to Roxas over his “insertion” statements.

Pimentel though made an effort to apologize when he led a prayer before the start of yesterday’s session.

A lawyer, on the other hand, called for the expulsion of Santiago from the Senate for “unparliamentary behavior and serious misconduct.”

Bonifacio Alentajan accused Santiago of abusing her parliamentary immunity in branding him as a “gun for hire lawyer” in a recent privilege speech against Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Alentajan filed a 17-page complaint urging the Senate to investigate Santiago in the same manner that the chamber investigated the C-5 Road project.

Santiago dismissed Alentajan’s accusations, saying he has a penchant for filing disqualification cases against her and was a “publicity hound.”-With Christina Mendez