(Eagle News) — Senator Richard Gordon on Monday filed an ethics complaint against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for his “continuous unabated unparliamentary acts, language and conduct which is causing damage to the Senate and to the people.”
In a complaint filed before the ethics committee at 7:44 p.m., Gordon noted that the filing of the complaint was not done “out of spite,” and was about “maintaining the dignity of the Senate.”
Prior to the filing, Gordon and Trillanes clashed in a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing last week.
Trillanes indirectly accused Senate blue ribbon chair Gordon of “badgering” a witness, a statement that did not suit well with him.
“Because all senators owe the public a public institution that, among others, deserves their respect,” Gordon said.
Oral defamation, slander
In the complaint, Gordon accused Trillanes of oral defamation or slander, which is a violation of Article 358 of the Revised Penal Code.
According to Gordon, Trillanes has been misbehaving and resorting to “unparliamentary” acts, language and conduct not only before him but before other senators.
Trillanes has also had brush-ins with Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and former Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.
At one point, he also called senators “cowards.”
According to Gordon, Trillanes also violated Article 93 of the Senate rules when he accused the blue ribbon committee of being a “committee de abswelto” in the hearing.
Trillanes said this after failing to get immediate approval for his motion to summon Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Mans Carpio, who were tagged by fixer Mark Taguba as being behind the alleged Davao Group that deals with corrupt Customs officials and employees.
Taguba later retracted his statements and apologized to the President for wrongfully implicating his son and son-in-law.
Nonetheless, the blue ribbon committee on Monday issued an invitation for Carpio and the Davao vice mayor to attend Thursday’s hearing into the P6.4-billion drug shipment that entered the country via Customs express lanes.
Both Carpio and the younger Duterte have confirmed their attendance.
Not fit for Senate
According to Gordon, Trillanes also resorted to “malicious and improper conduct” when he accused Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto of bias and of lawyering for the Davao vice mayor in the hearing.
Gordon noted that overall, Trillanes was not fit for the Senate.
“All senators are expected to be the embodiment of competence, integrity and diligence. As members of the Senate, we are also expected to conduct ourselves in accordance with accepted and prescribed standards of behavior, and not exhibit abject ignorance of both the Rules of the Senate and proper decorum,” Gordon said. Meanne Corvera, Eagle News Service
