Miriam loses temper at Commission on Appointments hearing

A fiery Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago lost her temper Wednesday and nearly cited for contempt a Chinese businessman who had threatened to file an ethics complaint against her. At the Commission on Appointments (CA) hearing on the nomination of Foreign Affairs officials, Santiago lectured businessman Chung Hing Wong (also known as Joseph Wong) for opposing the nomination of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and later on filing an ethics complaint against her. "You are a Chinese national [and] for that reason, you have no right to appear as a party in any nomination hearing before this court. You have no right to appear on television and intimidate a senator of the republic. You are making a living out of the Philippine economy," she said. "I cite you for contempt, where is the Sergeant-at-Arms? Take this man. That is the order of the chair," fumed Santiago, a former regional trial court judge. Last May 31, Wong opposed Del Rosario's nomination because the latter was allegedly directly involved in an alleged transaction which resulted in him [Wong] losing money. But after Wong failed to produce evidence during the hearing, Santiago kicked him out of the Senate premises and told him not to repeat his actions. On July 13, however, Wong threatened to file a complaint against Santiago before the Senate ethics committee. For her part, Santiago issued a show-cause order to ask Wong to explain why he shouldn't be cited for contempt. Wife apologizes But on Wednesday, Santiago decided to lift the contempt order after Wong's wife Rica apologized on his behalf. "I'm very sorry for that ma'am...depressed na po siya. That's why I came here to accompany my husband," Wong's wife said. Rica told Santiago that she could not accompany her husband during the previous hearings because she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, which Santiago took into consideration. "For human consideration, I lift my order of contempt. Turuan mo ng magandang ugali ang intsik na asawa mo. Wag na kayo bumalik ulit dito dahil sinasayang ninyo ang panahon ng mga senador. Hindi namin obligasyon na tulungan ang asawa mo na mangolekta ng mga nangutang sa kanya," she said. "This case is closed. There's no more contempt order," she added. Deportation? But interviewed after the CA proceedings, Santiago said she will consider pursuing a complaint against Wong to have him deported. "I think he really has a medical problem. His records (also) show that he is [an] undesirable (alien)," said Santiago, who also served as Immigration chief during the administration of the late Corazon Aquino. The senator said that reports from the Bureau of Immigration and the National Bureau of Investigation showed that the businessman is involved in a string of estafa cases. She likewise said that Wong listed a dozen addresses where he can't be located. — RSJ, GMA News