Senate not a noontime show with gimmicks, says Bato; Unparliamentary, says Tito

Members of the new Senate minority bloc on Monday questioned the move to place former Bulacan 1st district assistant engineer Brice Hernandez back to the custody of the Senate from the Pasay City Jail.

In a manifestation during the plenary session, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa lamented the previous interview of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III where he said that concerns about where Hernandez should be detained is only a “gimmick” by the minority bloc. 

“Ang Senado po, hindi po noontime TV show na puro gimik ang ating tini-take up dito. Kami po ay nag-raise dito ng legitimate issues which require legitimate attention. So, Mr. President, ako po ay nalulungkot,” Dela Rosa said. 

(The Senate is not a noontime TV show that we’re doing here is only a gimmick. We have raised legitimate issues here which require legitimate attention. So, Mr. President, I’m sad about what you said.)

He also said that nine senators already accept that they are now in the minority and they should not be told to “mamatay sa sama ng loob” or die of resentment following the recent decisions of Sotto amid the investigation into the anomalous flood control projects. 

Sotto, who was back then sitting as presiding officer, described Dela Rosa’s move to call him out as “very unparliamentary.” 

The Senate President also explained that he was responding to trolls when he made the “mamatay sa sama ng loob” remark.

Hernandez on Monday morning was transferred again to the Senate after his camp filed a writ of amparo with the Pasay Regional Trial Court Branch 112 asking for a temporary protection order and to be placed under the witness protection program.

During last week’s hearing of the House infrastructure committee, Hernandez alleged that some senators were involved in anomalous flood control projects. The former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer then requested not to be brought back to the Senate.

In light of this development, Hernandez was transferred to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame. 

The Senate decided again on Wednesday to transfer Hernandez to the Pasay City Jail, despite several senators appealing that he be detained again in the upper chamber’s premises. 

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano also raised concerns that Hernandez was brought back to the Senate premises without the senators voting on it in the plenary. 

“Ako as minority leader…hindi naman ako nakonsulta. So ang problema namin sa minority is not really where he is detained eh. Ang problema namin, can we rely on the rules? Because ang tamang procedure doon kung hindi natin pinagbotohan ito sa floor, is that either the chairman decides and we all give our concurrence a chairman or he informs us, may letter, anong tingin niyo?” Cayetano said. 

(As minority leader...I was not consulted. So our problem in the minority is not really where Hernandez is detained. Our problem is, can we rely on the rules? Because the correct procedure here is if we did not vote on it on the floor, it’s either the chairman decides and we all give our concurrence to the chairman, or he informs us with a letter, of what we think about it.) 

“Hindi pwedeng mag-desisyon ang plenary tapos mababaliktad nalang ito (we cannot just decide on it in the plenary and then reverse it). So the issue is not just Brice, the issue is also the rules of the Senate,” he added. 

Eventually, Sotto went down from the rostrum to answer the interpellations from other colleagues.

According to him, he has the power to decide where Hernandez should be detained, because a witness cited in contempt may be ordered detained in a place as may be designated by the committee alone or with the concurrence of the Senate President.

“The Senate President has the power to order the transfer and if I have used a word that has not conform to your palette, pagpasensyahan niyo kapag ganon dahil karamihan ng binanggit ko, opinyon ko [forgive me because many of what I say are my personal opinions.),” Sotto added. 

After a suspension of the session for a couple of minutes, the Senate decided to sustain the move to transfer Hernandez to the upper chamber. 

“I believe that better coordination na lang po and we agreed to coordinate better with minority floor leader in these issues,” Senate majority leader Migz Zubiri said. — RF, GMA Integrated News