Sen. Nancy Binay and Sen. Alan Cayetano. SENATE PRIB PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Sen. Nancy Binay said on Thursday that she was considering filing a complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano at the chamber鈥檚 ethics committee over his behavior during the inquiry into the new Senate building.
Cayetano, who heads the Senate panel on accounts, accused Binay of disrupting Wednesday鈥檚 hearing on the allegedly ballooning cost of the new Senate building.
The two senators traded barbs over the supposed cost of the new building, with Cayetano insisting that the building鈥檚 cost would total a whopping P23 billion. The heated exchange resulted in name-calling, personal attacks, and accusations, including claims that Binay is providing questions to media personnel to discredit her fellow senators.
Cayetano even reminded Binay that her first name is Lourdes, not Marites 鈥� a term widely used in the Philippines to describe gossipmongers.
Binay walked out of the hearing after she convinced the Department of Public Works and Highways to admit that the new Senate building would cost only P21 billion.
鈥淢aybe I might have to talk with my staff if there is a need to file a complaint at the ethics panel,鈥� she said in Filipino.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if he鈥檚 heading the ethics committee now. Because I used to head it before, I don鈥檛 know if it was given to him. I will look first at who is now the chair,鈥� she added.
Sen. Francis Tolentino heads the chamber鈥檚 ethics panel. He left the Senate panel on accounts hearing early, unable to witness the barbs between Binay and Cayetano.
In a message to reporters on Thursday, Tolentino said the incident could鈥檝e been prevented had he not left the hearing early.
鈥淢y regret is [that] I left the hearing early.聽 It鈥檚 just that there are many visitors who came all the way from Baguio and I had to receive them yesterday. It wouldn鈥檛 have happened,鈥� said Tolentino in a mix of English and Filipino.
The issues on the new building erupted after Senate President Francis Escudero ordered a review of its cost.
This was after Cayetano informed him about an apparent 鈥渄ramatic increase鈥� in the building鈥檚 construction fee from an initial budget of P8 billion to a projected P23.3 billion.
READ: Escudero wants P23-billion new Senate building reviewed: Parang OA