Cayetano snipes at Robredo: ‘Hindi natutulog sa pansitan ang Kongreso’

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday hit out at Vice President Leni Robredo, calling her "clueless" after she remarked on the priorities of Congress in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his closing speech during the continuation of the House joint panel hearings on the ABS-CBN franchise issue, Cayetano maintained that despite taking its time to deliberate on the issues hurled against the network, Congress is not remiss in its duties to pass measures that would help the government respond to the public health crisis.

"Nung hindi namin tine-take up ang issue ng ABS-CBN, sabi ng pangalawang pangulo, i-take up niyo agad. Ngayong tine-take up natin marami raw mas importante," he said.

"Yes, as required of us and despite valued reservation, we have tackled the contentious matter of the franchise application of ABS-CBN. But away from public limelight and media scrutiny, we have also prioritized the needs of our citizens in response to our current crisis," he added.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Robredo said that there should be more benefits for medical frontliners so that they would no longer have to work abroad to find greener pastures.

"Yung number one talaga, suweldo. Yunng number one talaga iyong benefits na binibigay sa frontliners. Kasi kaya lang naman sila lumuluwas kasi mas mabuti yung opportunities sa labas—opportunities sa suweldo, sa benefits," she said.

"So sana, halimbawa sa Congress, sana imbes na pinag-uusapan yung mga bagay na hindi naman nakakatulong, sana ito na iyong ginagawa, ‘di ba?" she added.

Cayetano said that the House has passed a number of measures geared towards addressing the issues brought about by COVID-19 pandemic.

These measures include the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, the proposed COVID-19-Related Anti-Discrimination Act, and the proposed Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy, he said.

He added that there are also 10 pending bills and resolutions specifically aimed at helping frontliners.

"Hindi natutulog sa pansitan ang Kongreso. I say this for the benefit of the vice president, who despite appearing to be clueless as to the real work of this Congress, has nonetheless felt it's her duty to instruct this House on how it should conduct its business," Cayetano said.

"Ginagawa namin ang trabaho namin, hindi lang nala-live sa TV lahat ng aming hearing," he added.

Cayetano directed the Press and Public Affairs Bureau of the House to provide the Office of the President with a copy of the pertinent bills which he said Robredo could use in her future press statements. — BM, GMA News