Binay accuses Cayetano of slander in ethics complaint

Sen. Nancy Binay filed on Monday an ethics complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano over his “offensive, derogatory and improper” remarks against her during their heated exchange in last week’s hearing on the construction of the new Senate building in Taguig City.

In a press conference, Binay became emotional as she explained that her complaint was prompted by a desire to protect her family, especially her children.

“Before, I just let it pass. But this time around I won’t allow him to defame my character again,” she said. “I’m a mother, I’m a parent. I also need to protect my children because I don’t want them to go to school hearing from other people that ‘your mother is crazy because Senator Cayetano called her so.’”

Cayetano, Senate committee on accounts chair, launched an inquiry on July 3 after Senate President Francis Escudero decided to suspend the project, citing the surge in the building’s price tag from P8.9 billion to P23.3 billion.

Binay, who as former chair of the panel had supervised the project, maintained the construction cost has reached only P21 billion.

At one point during the hearing, Cayetano called Binay “Marites,” a derisive term used to refer to rumor-mongers. He also implied that she was crazy, telling her “Nabuang ka na, ’day” as she walked out of the hearing in protest.

“This is not just about me as a senator. This is also about me as a mother. I’m getting teary-eyed because I know what my children and nieces and nephews experienced during that time. I won’t allow them to go through that experience again,” Binay said, apparently referring to 2015 when the Senate investigated alleged irregularities in the Makati City Hall parking building.

The Makati City Hall parking building was a project of Binay’s father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, when he was still Makati mayor. Cayetano, a central figure in the Senate’s probe, claimed that the building was overpriced.

Unparliamentary conduct

In a 15-page complaint she filed before the office of Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, who also chairs the Senate committee on ethics and privileges, Binay said that Cayetano committed the crime of slander against her after he “with deliberate intent, [uttered] defamatory statements … false and malicious imputations … in public, [causing] me dishonor, discredit and contempt.”

She said Cayetano should be held “accountable and liable for all of his unparliamentary conduct” and asked Tolentino’s committee to impose “appropriate sanctions and penalties” on him “commensurate to the gravity of his offenses.”

The heated exchange between Binay and Cayetano, who presided over the hearing on Wednesday, erupted after she tried to ask officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) about Escudero’s claim that the building’s price tag had gone up to P23.3 billion.

Cayetano accused her of disrupting the hearing and Binay walked out after the DPWH confirmed that the cost of the project was only P21 billion.

She also criticized his “intimidating behavior” toward the DPWH resource persons, saying that “every time the DPWH explained, he cut them off. He repeatedly said this is about a review. So if this is a review, why is the resource person not given the chance to explain?”

“The respondent’s act of uttering defamatory words against me as well as his intimidating and deceptive behavior toward the officials and employees of the DPWH … constitute conduct unbecoming of a public officer and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,” Binay said.

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“Respondent’s acts are contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy and public interest,” she added.

Eyes on the ball

Cayetano, in a statement, said he intends to remain focused on conducting a factual and independent review of the new Senate building amidst the ethics complaint filed against him.

“[Let’s keep our] eyes on the ball. What Sen. Nancy Binay has been doing from the start is only meant to confuse us all,” he told reporters.

Cayetano said he would eventually address the complaint but his priority remains the rising cost of the building project.

“The issue is the P23 billion. Which is more important to the people, what she thinks of me and what I think of her? Or what’s really happening with the building?” he said.

Asked how he and Binay could reconcile their differences, Cayetano said they should “stick to the issue” and discuss matters calmly and factually.

“She can correct it anytime. Senator Nancy, let’s clarify all of these calmly and correctly,” he said.