MANILA, Philippines - Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Teofisto Guingona III told Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Tuesday that he did not prejudge the outcome of the chamber's hearing on the alleged pork barrel scam.
After being criticized on Monday, it was Guingona's turn to take the Senate floor to dismiss Estrada's claims that he already prejudged the guilt of lawmakers facing charges over the controversy.
"For the record, I have no intention of prejudging the guilt or innocence of any of our peers... The transcripts of the hearings should prove this fact," Guingona said during the televised Senate session. "[W]e have done our utmost best to ensure that the dignity and honor of our colleagues involved in this issue are preserved and protected."
Estrada lambasted Guingona for describing Ruby Tuason's Senate testimony as a "three-point, buzzer beater winning shot."
Read: Jinggoy slams Guingona: I'm ready to fight
Tuason, a potential state witness in the pork barrel scam case, told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last week that she delivered pork barrel kickbacks to Estrada.
While acknowledging that he may have offended Estrada, Guingona said his comment on Tuason's testimony did not refer to a state of guilt on the part of any person.
"The witness had surely helped in the search for the answers, not in the determination of guilt or innocence," Guingona said. "The phrase that was used by me to describe and underscore the possible impact and value of the testimony of a witness."
Guingona reminded his colleagues in the Senate that the members of the Blue Ribbon Committee are only doing their job as they conduct the pork barrel scam hearings.
"Ano pa man ang hirap ng tungkuling ito, maaasahan ninyo na trabaho lang po at walang personalan," Guingona concluded.
After his speech, Guingona approached Estrada and shook his hand.
Jinggoy grills Guingona
But after a brief suspension on the Senate session, Estrada took the Senate floor and fired questions to Guingona.
Estrada asked what was Guingona's intention in describing Tuason's testimony using basketball jargon.
Guingona then reiterated that he was just referring to the value of the witness' statements.
"It's very, very weighty... the testimony of Ms. Tuason, because, as said before, this was the first time that a witness said that 'I personally handed money to a senator,'" Guingona told Estrada.
Estrada also questioned why Guingona, with his parting remarks during the recent hearing, seems to have made a conclusion without even considering other evidence.
The Blue Ribbon Committee chair denied this, saying what he made was only an opinion and not a conclusion.
The embattled senator also questioned Guingona for supposedly not asking Tuason's alleged deals with other senators aside from himself and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.
But Guingona said the Blue Ribbon Committee did asked such question, but only yielded a denial from Tuason.