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Senator Richard Gordon on Monday night formally filed his ethics complaint against Senator Trillanes IV for his "unparliamentary behavior" during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Commitee last week.
The complaint, which was filed at around 7:40 p.m., stemmed from a heated argument between the two senators during the August 31st Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the PHP6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment.
“The complaint against the continuous, unabated, unparliamentary acts, language, and conduct of Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV, which is causing damage to the Senate and the people and therefore, is of primordial concern,” Phil Star quoted Gordon saying in his 23-page complaint.
He said the complaint was “about maintaining the dignity of the Senate because all senators owe the public a public institution that, among others, deserves their respect.”
"This case is neither frivolous nor is it being filed out of spite. This is about maintaining the dignity of the Senate," he added.
“He just keeps on doing the same thing. A man like that does not belong in a Senate of august gentlemen. You do not do that to a chairman, you do not do that to your fellow senators and say they are a bunch of puppets or that they cannot do anything. The Senate is already a damaged institution,” Gordon told reporters after the four-hour caucus that started at 11 a.m.
"Tignan natin. It will be a long process and I am confident, sabi ko nga, na wala akong ginawang anything improper, anything unparliamentary. So it's premature for him to say kung sino 'yung mga susuporta sa kanya dahil mahabang proseso 'yan," Trillanes told reporters.
Trillanes, for his part, said he was ready to face the ethics complaint describing it “premature” for Gordon to say that 10 to 14 senators supported his complaint
“I will not take the word of Senator Gordon na meron siyang 14. Mahabang proseso yan, presentation of evidence, ipepresent yan sa plenaryo at ultimately pagbobotohan. It’s a long process, dun natin malalaman kung meron talaga siyang 14," Trillanes told reporters in an ambush interview.
Gordon initially said the accusations against Paolo Duterte and Carpio were just "hearsay."
Trillanes then accused Gordon of "protecting" President Rodrigo Duterte and his family – something that the administration senator strongly denied.
The senator, one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s foremost critics, also vowed to tackle the complaint head-on and said it will not distract him from uncovering the younger Duterte and Carpio’s complicity.
Since 1986, the Senate has so far censured only two senators for ethical violations.
The Senate has only reprimanded 2 senators in 30 years – former senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Heherson Alvarez.
Many complaints have been lodged against senators before the ethics panel but only former senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Heherson Alvarez were reproached in recent history.
What will happen next to Senator Trillanes and what would be his sanctions after this? Most especially in the upcoming Senate hearing this Thursday with Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Atty. Mans Carpio.
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Source: PhilStar, Rappler
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