Poe frowns on Cayetano’s name-calling, says it cheapens debate

Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday frowned on House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s remark that some of the senators who attended the Senate hearing on the franchise of ABS-CBN Corporation were “sipsip" and “epal.”

“You know when I deal with counterparts from the House (of Representatives), at least me personally and I think many of my colleagues, we try to maintain a level of respect and decorum because name-calling cheapens the debate,” Poe said in an interview on ANC television.

“And when you start name-calling, kung gumagamit ka ng salitang ganoon, nawawalan ka ng tamang basehan sa argumento,” she added.

She said since Cayetano is a “very intelligent politician” and has been a lawmaker for many years, he could understand that the 1987 Constitution grants both the House and Senate authority to oversight.

“Section VI, Article 21 allows us to conduct hearings in aid of legislation and find out if franchise holders are compliant of the agreements that they had with the government. That's number one,” she said.

Number two, Poe said, there is nothing ordinary with the hearing the committee on public services, which she chairs, conducted as they have done it with the proposed national budget and tax measures.

Further, Poe said she was fair during the hearing, allowing those in favor and against the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN to speak.

“I allowed everyone to speak, I allowed Senator Bato (Ronald dela Rosa) to speak as long as he wanted. And I knew from the start that he was apprehensive about giving ABS-CBN its franchise. If you ask all of my colleagues I keep repeating I'm going to have my meeting, hearing this time, I hope you can attend. So, where's the bias there,” she said.

Cayetano earlier questioned the move of the Senate to hold a hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise especially since according to him, all franchise-related bills should originate from the House of Representatives.

“There's no question yung iba nagmamalasakit lang. There's no question there are solid supporters of ABS. But yung iba OA na e. Parang doomsday na ang ginagawa para lang makapagsipsip. Hindi yun ang proseso,” Cayetano said on Monday.

“Bakit nag-hearing ang Senate? Anong purpose? Parang nag-aattendance sa ABS-CBN. ‘Hello, I‘m here, I‘m for you.’ Kasi sabi nila it‘s not for the franchise kasi hindi pa sila puwedeng mag-hearing sa franchise, nandito pa [sa House]. So what’s it for?" he added. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News