Opposition senators defend Trillanes amid threat of ethics suit

Members of the Senate minority bloc on Friday defended Senator Antonio Trillanes IV amid the threat of facing an ethics complaint.

In a statement, Senators Franklin Drilon, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima said they would oppose “efforts to stifle dissent and silence the opposition.”

“The Senate minority bloc stands behind Senator Sonny in his desire to ferret out the truth and will oppose efforts to stifle dissent and silence the opposition that are essential in a vibrant democracy,” the opposition senators said.

“We cannot help but ask our colleagues in the majority if this is an attempt to harass and intimidate a colleague in the opposition,” they added.

They said there appeared to be a pattern of filing ethics complaints against senators whose views are not aligned with the administration.

The minority bloc was referring to the ethics complaint filed by several leaders of the House of Representatives against De Lima. De Lima is facing three ethics complaints that are yet to be resolved by the committee.

“Now we have this threat of a case filed against Senator Sonny that came after his line of questioning in the hearing led to linking Paolo Duterte to smuggling in the BoC (Bureau of Customs). Is this ethics case meant to silence the opposition in the Senate and the critics of the administration?” the opposition senators said.

“We urge our colleagues in the majority to rethink their position as regards this threat,” they added.

On Thursday, Gordon said he would personally file an ethics complaint against Trillanes over the latter’s supposed offensive acts and language.

The two senators engaged in a heated argument during the blue ribbon committee’s investigation on the smuggling of shabu, after Trillanes accused Gordon of turning his panel into a “committee de abswelto.”

Trillanes made the remark after proposing that the committee chaired by Gordon invite Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and lawyer Manases Carpio to the investigation. Carpio is the husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Trillanes said he doubts Gordon’s plan to file an ethics complaint will get the support of their colleagues.

Senators from the majority bloc had varied reactions to the filing of an ethics complaint.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the two senators should just let cooler heads prevail, while Senator JV Ejercito said Trillanes’ “unparliamentary” actions should already be dealt with accordingly.

Senator Grace Poe sought the intervention of Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. Pimentel has yet to reply to queries regarding the issue.  —NB, GMA News