MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Nancy Binay on Monday submitted an ethics complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for displaying unparliamentary behavior during last week's Senate committee inquiry into the construction of the new Senate building.
Binay said in her 15-page complaint that Cayetano committed multiple transgressions, including the use of "offensive and improper language," during the Senate accounts committee that he chairs.
In her complaint, the senator alleged that Cayetano had mocked her during the hearing and accused her of spreading falsehoods about him without proof. Binay added that he also "repeatedly blamed me for supposedly sowing confusion" at the hearing.
The senator said Cayetano made false and slanderous imputations against her in violation of Article 358 of the Revised Penal Code and abused his rights as chairperson of the committee on accounts in violation of Article 19 of the Civil Code.
Binay also said Cayetano failed to abide by ethical standards for lawyers under the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability.
The senator called on the Senate ethics panel, which Sen. Francis Tolentino chairs, to impose the appropriate sanctions and penalties according to the gravity of Cayetano's offenses.
At a press conference on Monday, Binay said the "hurt" Cayetano caused her, her family and the media moved her to file the ethics case against him.
"Hindi lang naman ako yung nasaktan. Yung pamilya ko... [at] yung members of the media na meron syang allegations na finefeed ko sa inyo yung mga tanong tuwing iniinterview ninyo ako. So kumbaga, marami syang gustong sirain," Binay said, adding that Cayetano already had a "conclusion of irregularity" prior to conducting the hearing.
(I'm not the only one hurt. My family... [and] the members of the media who have allegations that I feed you the questions every time you interview me. So apparently, he wants to destroy many people.)
At last week's Senate accounts committee hearing, tensions escalated when Binay and Cayetano disagreed over whether the true cost of the Senate building was P21 billion or P23 billion, including the the cost of land acquisition (P1.6 billion).
Binay walked out from the hearing after receiving a confirmation from the Department of Public Works and Highways that the P23 billion never appeared in their records. Cayetano then called Binay "Nabuang ka day" (you've gone crazy) as she was leaving.
Since then, Binay said Cayetano has not reached out to her to deescalate tensions.
"At the end of the day may damage din sa institution [the institution was damaged]. So how do we fix that damage?" Binay added.
In an ambush interview on Monday, Cayetano quipped that it was Binay who appeared guilty after he saw photos of her filing the ethics case against him.
Accusing Binay of "disrupting" his committee's hearing, Cayetano said: "She knows nothing will happen with that ethics case. In fact, I can also file an ethics case, because what she did was unethical."