Koko, LP word war stalling legislation
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and senators from the Liberal Party (LP) continued to hit each other yesterday over calls to oust President Duterte, which both sides agreed were hurting the passage of vital legislation.
The bickering between Pimentel and LP senators led by Sen. Francis Pangilinan started on Monday when the party as well as the minority bloc bragged about their legislative accomplishments and asked the Senate President to stop talking about the possible impeachment of Vice President Leni Robredo.
The minority bloc is dominated by LP senators and headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon, who is also with the party. Other members of the minority are Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV of the Nacionalista Party and Sen. Risa Hontiveros of Akbayan.
Yesterday, Pangilinan responded to Pimentel’s call for the LP senators to denounce the impeachment complaint against Duterte to prove they are not part of the destabilization efforts and show they really want to focus on passing urgent reform bills.
“Pimentel et al stripped us of our committee chairmanships for not toeing the administration line on extrajudicial killings, the Marcos burial, the Lascañas hearing and the BI (Bureau of Immigration) hearings, and then he expects us to denounce the impeachment proceedings to prove to him we aren’t behind the filing of the complaint?” Pangilinan said.
“Who is he to tell us what to do? He’s not the only elected senator. We’re not behind the impeachment complaint, but we’re also not lapdogs,” he said.
Pimentel shot back saying it was the LP senators who were being domineering and dictating on their colleagues.
“Then why did they tell me to concentrate on the ‘figures which matter’ and not discuss even theoretically the Vice President’s impeachment? Who were they two days ago when they said that? They too forgot my mandate and was also elected by our countrymen. The key here is simply respect for each other,” the Senate President said in a text message.
The LP on Monday asked the Senate leadership to focus on the pressing problems of the country instead of engaging in politicking. The party cited Pimentel’s comment that Robredo has a greater likelihood of being impeached in the House of Representatives than Duterte.
The House is dominated by Duterte’s allies.
Pangilinan said Pimentel should “focus on the numbers that matter, the thousands of unresolved murders, the rising prices of basic goods and the 13-million hectare undersea region rich in minerals and biodiversity of Benham Rise.”
“These are the numbers that we should all be focusing on, not the 100 votes of congressmen on the impeachment case threatened by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Solicitor General Jose Calida on Vice President Robredo,” he said in a statement for the LP.
He lamented that instead of the life and death issues that confront the people daily “like putting food on the table and children’s safety, security and future, politics is dominating the national discourse.”
Pimentel maintained that there is nothing wrong with his comments and agreed that urgent national problems should take precedence over politicking in the Senate.
He pointed out that anybody could have made the same comment as his: that with only 100 signatures of House members required to send an impeachment complaint to the Senate, Robredo has a greater chance of being impeached.
He said his comment was not a prejudgment, but just “mathematically speaking.”