Trillanes threatens to oust Pimentel over Gordon

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV threatened to push for the removal of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III if he does not do anything to replace Sen. Richard Gordon as chair of the Blue Ribbon committee.

Trillanes, who has been at loggerheads with Gordon for some time, has been pushing for the latter’s removal as Blue Ribbon chairman because of the way he has been conducting hearings, particularly on issues that could hurt the Duterte administration.

Speaking at a forum held at the Senate yesterday, Trillanes said that Gordon has transformed the Blue Ribbon into a “komite de abswelto” or a committee that absolves, which he said started during the time of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Gordon was also panel head.

“He is using it to get leverage from people in power,” Trillanes said.

According to Trillanes, the independence of the Senate is already being questioned under this administration and the way Gordon has been running the Blue Ribbon committee only gives credence to this perception.

“To me, for as long as Senator Gordon is there, you will see that the independence of the Senate will be affected. For as long as Senator Gordon is there at the Blue Ribbon committee, I will put the blame and responsibility on Sen. Koko Pimentel,” Trillanes said.

“So if he is not removed, I will really work hard to remove Sen. Koko Pimentel in order to remove Sen. Gordon, Blue Ribbon committee chairman,” he added.

Trillanes said he has raised the issue a number of times with Pimentel, but that the Senate President has a leadership style that could only be described as “passive.”

He said there have been several instances where Pimentel should have intervened or played a bigger role but he chose to be disinterested.

In a message sent to reporters, Pimentel said that Trillanes “can go ahead with his plans.”

“This is a free country,” Pimentel said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, in his Twitter account, said that Pimentel will stay as Senate President.

“The majority bloc, all 16 of us, are solidly supporting his Senate leadership; 13 votes to oust is extremely improbable,” Lacson said, referring to the minimum number of votes needed to install a Senate president.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito also noted that Pimentel enjoys the support of the majority of senators so “there is no reason for a change in leadership at this time.”

Trillanes said that he intends to pursue not only an ethics case against Gordon, but also one of plunder in relation to his long-time role as chairman of the Philippine Red Cross.

He also claimed that Gordon has reaped the rewards for his alleged protection of the administration as chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee.

Trillanes cited the recent removal of PDP-Laban stalwart Martin Diño as chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the installation of Wilma Eisma, who currently serves as administrator, in his place.

He pointed out that Eisma is closely associated with Gordon so her assumption as the chair of the SBMA was President Duterte’s reward to him.

“This is because of his reward-winning performance as Blue Ribbon committee chairman,” Trillanes said.

In a telephone interview with reporters, Gordon said he was unfazed by the threats of Trillanes, who he said was a liar.

“That’s his problem, it’s not my problem. I will just pray for him. Let him do his worst. He keeps on threatening. Let him do his worst. I am ready to answer anything,” Gordon said.

“I am not paid there in the Red Cross, you know that. Some of you get blood from the Red Cross. Some of you ask for ambulances from the Red Cross. I mean we serve, I don’t get any money here. I don’t get any allowance. I am member of the International Federation. If he wants to destroy that, that’s his own lookout. What is he anyway, the president of the international liars association?” he added.

Gordon admitted that he recommended Eisma to the SBMA because she is very qualified to head the agency and is from Olongapo City where he used to be mayor.

Senators’ feud

Senators from the majority bloc, who were hit for allegedly refusing to sign a resolution condemning the drug-related killings, accused yesterday their counterparts in the minority of waging a demolition job against them through social media.

The quarrel was triggered by a blog in SilenteNoMore. ph that Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III described as a peddler of fake news.

The anti-Duterte administration blog entitled “Malacañang Dogs in the Senate” hit Sotto, Senate President Pimentel, Sens. Cynthia Villar, Gordon, Gregorio Honasan, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Miguel Zubiri for failing to sign Senate Resolution 516, a proposed measure to express the sense of the chamber to condemn the killings of minors in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

The majority senators said the resolution simply did not reach their office and stressed that they were one in condemning the killings and would vote for the approval of the measure.

“In their stupidity, that (resolution) did not reach me. No one asked me to sign it so it can’t be said that I did not sign. Now the offensive part of this is that they singled each and every one of us and wrote really bad things about us,” Sotto angrily manifested on the floor.

The resolution was spearheaded by the minority bloc led by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon but their counterparts in the majority said the way the measure was circulated earlier this week was sneaky in that it was apparently intentionally not shown to the seven senators – all allies of President Duterte.

Gordon said he was in Vietnam when the resolution was circulated for signature.

Sen. Loren Legarda recalled that she asked Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who asked her to sign the measure, to make sure that everyone gets to sign it too.

Other senators from the majority bloc like Sens. Sonny Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Grace Poe and Loren Legarda were able to sign the resolution.

Sotto, who was called a “rapist, plagiarist and bigot” in the article, could not hide his anger and vowed to go after the person or persons behind the blog.

In a privilege speech yesterday, Sotto explained how Senate Resolution 516 was never presented to him for signing, so it was unfair for anyone to say that he refused to sign it.

He said the article was written with malice and that the writer was bad and a stupid idiot.

Sotto asked that the Senate secretariat coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation’s cybercrime division to find out the identity of the people behind the blog.

The speech of Sotto was referred to the Senate committee on public information and mass media chaired by Poe, who agreed to conduct an inquiry into the spread of fake news.

Pimentel also aired his outrage over the issue, confirming that he also never saw a copy of the resolution when it was being routed for signing.

He said that he is not only against the killing of minors, but of any person in general.

“Let us get to the bottom of this. Find out who is or are behind this website or webpage so that the majority leader and all those similarly situated and interested in this matter can pursue the remedies under the law,” Pimentel said.

Sotto said he was trying to contain his anger and will be kind by only filing a cyberlibel case against those behind the blog, “otherwise if I meet them on the street, I might not be able to stop myself.”