Binay files ethics raps vs Cayetano over “unparliamentary acts”

Senator Nancy Binay formally filed on Monday her ethics complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano following their heated exchange during their hearing last Wednesday over the construction of the New Senate Building (NSB).

In a 15-page document submitted to Sen. Francis Tolentino, chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Binay accused Cayetano of violating the rules of the chamber over his “unparliamentary acts and language.”

Cayetano called Binay ‘Marites,’ a pejorative term for gossiper, and was heard saying ‘nabuang ka na, day’ (you have gone crazy, lady) after she exited the room. The senator from Makati City found it disrespectful.

“But, for me, the gravest (offense) was when he accused me of giving [scripted] interviews to 10 radio interviews—that’s part of it. And then, during the hearing you can clearly see—I rewatched it and read the transcript—he was the only one who kept on talking almost the entire time,” Binay told reporters at a press briefing.

Binay said the resource persons invited to help shed light on the issue during last week’s hearing were never given a chance to properly explain where things stand at the moment because Cayetano kept cutting them off.

Cayetano took over the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Accounts from Binay under the leadership of Senate President Francis Escudero. Binay used to head the committee, which was overseeing the NSB project, when Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri was at the helm of the Upper House.

Binay reminded Cayetano that one of her names is ‘Lourdes,’ not ‘Marites,’ and denied all his insinuations against her. Both senators come from feuding political families and cities—Makati and Taguig.

In her complaint, Binay wanted Cayetano to be held accountable for his words and actions, not only as a senator but also as a lawyer. She said her team gave copies of her complaint to the offices of both Cayetano and Tolentino.

“I don’t want to pre-empt Senator [Tolentino] in his ruling. But, at the end of the day, we want to be vindicated that he (Cayetano) really did something wrong during the hearing,” Binay said.

Binay said she will no longer allow the bullying in 2015 felt by her children, nephews and nieces when Cayetano led the Senate probe in the alleged anomalous construction of the Makati City Hall Parking Building that implicated former Vice President Jejomar Binay and her brother Jejomar Erwin Binay.

She said what happened was difficult to explain to somebody, who has never been a parent, obviously referring to Cayetano who has no child.

Cayetano called for an investigation into the NSB project following an order from Escudero to conduct a review on its contact price, which reportedly spiked to P23.3 billion from the original price of P8.9 billion.