Kiko-Robin clash spills beyond Senate floor
After a heated exchange on the floor and mutual threats to file formal complaints, hostilities between senator Kiko Pangilinan and Robin Padilla dragged on for a second day, requiring the intervention of the chamber’s security office.
The Senate Office of the sergeant-at-arms (OSAA) on Wednesday afternoon said the two lawmakers “figured in a commotion on the way to the lounge” after the plenary session was suspended.
”But it was quickly settled,” OSAA acting chief Mao Aplasca told reporters.
It all started Tuesday night during plenary discussions on the attempt made by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday to serve an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa at the Senate building.
Dela Rosa, who continued to question the ICC’s jurisdiction over the country, cried harassment and accused the NBI agents of human rights violations.
This was after he literally had to run down the hallway and up the staircase to avoid arrest. Dela Rosa had since sought refuge at the Senate building.
At Tuesday night’s plenary session, Pangilinan raised a point of order, noting that the matter had been referred already to the committee on rules.
Padilla, however, wanted it tackled further that night on the floor.
“How are we going to discuss other (matters)…?” Padilla said, cutting Pangilinan off.
“And for the record, Mr. President I still have the floor!” Pangilinan stressed.
Complaint for ‘shouting’
It escalated from that point on. Padilla informed the body of his intention to “file a complaint against Sen. Pangilinan for shouting.”
“Is there anything in our rules that says a senator is allowed to shout at a fellow senator?” he said.
Newly-elected Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, the day’s presiding officer, had to suspend the proceedings to defuse tensions.
During the break, Pangilinan approached Padilla and offered a handshake, but the latter declined.
Speaking to reporters later, Padilla said he would only reconsider his complaint if Pangilinan apologizes to him in the plenary.
“It should be done in the plenary because he shouted at me in the plenary. If he had shouted at me somewhere else, it would have been fine and we could have just shaken hands, but he shouted at me there in the plenary,” he said.
Pangilinan later issued a statement challenging Padilla to go ahead with his plan to file a complaint against him with the committee on ethics.
‘Don’t be onion-skinned’
He said he would also file a counter-complaint against Padilla’s for threats and intimidation, which he said happened during a recess in Monday’s plenary session.
He said Padilla should not be “balat sibuyas” or onion-skinned.
“In all my years in the Senate, and despite the many shouting matches and raised voices that have happened here, this may be the first time an ethics case like this will be filed,” he said, doubting whether Padilla’s planned action would have any basis.
“Raising one’s voice during a heated debate is sometimes unavoidable and it does happen in the plenary. If that’s considered an ethics violation, many senators would have already been charged and penalized,” he said.
Should Padilla make good his threat, Pangilinan said he would file a counter-complaint.
“Bullying and acting like a tough guy won’t work on me,” he said. “That kind of swaggering behavior and lack of proper decorum toward a fellow senator in the Senate is actually a stronger ground for a complaint.”
“I don’t want a fight. I’m not quarrelsome but I won’t back down if he wants to file a case,” he added.
