Our guest today is Senator Antonio Trillanes for our show (10-11am) “Kasangga Mo Ang Langit”, a TeleRadyo program of DZRJ 810khz, 8 TriMedia Network.
Is Turning Off the Mic a Part of Senate Rules?
Rey: Doon sa inyong iringan ni Senator (Alan Peter) Cayetano, mukhang marami pong nag-observe at nag-comment na dapat mag-behave daw ang ating legislators properly.
People were able to watch what happened online during the proceedings and what happened when we were both caught during the heat of the moment. Both Sen. Cayetano and I were asserting the rules and using parliamentary procedures to further our position. It doesn’t escalate to anything physical but it happens, specially when you passionately believe what you are fighting for. There’s nothing personal about it.
Turning off the microphone is a part of the rules. Senator de Lima’s mic has a master switch that would allow her to talk uninterrupted. She was not aware of this switch at that time. Sen Cayetano kept butting in. When Sen Cayetano requested to be seated away from me and still continued to interject, I was the one who turned on the master switch from Sen de Lima’s microphone. It’s all in the transcription.
Cayetano Protecting Duterte?
Sen Trillanes was heard saying that he will not allow Sen Cayetano to “strut his stuff” in the senate. According to Sen Trillanes it was supposed to have been a private discussion but Sen Cayetano chose to make it public.
The point here was, Sen Cayetano is not a member of the committee and yet he consumed a full hour asking questions. We all know his agenda and that is to protect the president. It was to divert attention, that was his intention and I wouldn’t allow that. I can’t allow anyone to waste the committee’s time. We need to hear the testimony of the witness. In the end he got ruled out of order by the Committee Chairman, Senator De Lima.
That’s why he got escorted out by the Sgt at Arms because he wasn’t allowed to make a scene. He accused Sen de Lima of lawyering for the witness – technically he was also lawyering, for the president. The chairman controls how the proceedings will go. I didn’t see any instance where Sen de Lima abused that privilege.
On Paolo Duterte: You’ll Realize He’s An Addict When You see Him
Sen Cayetano asked the witness if he saw Mayor Paolo Duterte taking drugs. The witness said no. However if you watched the proceedings, Edgar Matobato said that this was already common knowledge. Everybody in Davao knows that Paolo Duterte is a drug addict. If you meet him in person, you will know that he is one.
What’s The Objective?
The problem with Sen Cayetano is that he is under the belief that there is a “yellow” group out to unseat President Duterte and have one of their own to replace him. He claims that the witness is lying and then he turns around and claims that this is all meant to impeach the president. It doesn’t make sense. who is coaching the witness?
(To be continued)
