Gordon claims ethics rap vs Trillanes supported by ‘more than 14’ senators

Senator Richard Gordon on Monday claimed that the ethics complaint he will file against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has the support of “more than 14” senators.

Gordon said this in an interview with reporters after the two-hour caucus with the 17-member majority bloc. All majority senators were present except for Senator JV Ejercito, who is confined in the hospital.

“It’s going to be filed today... I don’t need signatories. I have the support of more than 10, more than 12, more than 14 [senators],” Gordon said.

Gordon earlier said he will personally file an ethics complaint against Trillanes, after the latter called the blue ribbon committee a “committee de abswelto.”

The two senators locked horns last week during the blue ribbon probe on the shabu shipment that was smuggled in from China, after Trillanes said the committee should not be “lawyering” for Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and lawyer Manases Carpio, son and son-in-law of President Rodrigo Duterte, and should instead summon them to the hearing.

“You do not do that to the chairman. You do not do that to your fellow senators,” Gordon said.

For his part, Trillanes downplayed the claim of Gordon, describing it as “premature.”

“I will not take the word of Sen. Gordon na meron siyang 14. Mahabang proseso ‘yan. May presentation of evidence ‘yan tapos ipe-present sa plenaryo at ultimately, pagbo-botohan ‘yan. It’s a long process,” Trillanes said.

“Doon natin malalaman kung may 14 o wala. Tingnan muna natin kung ngayon nga ifa-file niya or hindi,” he said.

In a separate interview, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said Gordon’s claim of having support from more than 14 senators is “quite accurate.”

Sotto, chairman of the Senate ethics committee, said he will schedule a meeting on Monday next week to discuss the pending complaints before his panel.

“We will try to take it up as soon as possible,” Sotto said.

An ethics complaint was filed against Trillanes last February over his “murderer” tag on President Duterte. It has yet to be resolved by the Senate ethics committee. —KBK/KVD/RSJ, GMA News