THE Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges will resolve the rift between Senators Nancy Binay and Alan Peter Cayetano through a “conciliation process,” chairperson Senate majority floor leader Francis Tolentino announced yesterday after the panel’s organizational meeting.
Tolentino said the conciliation process, which will be held behind closed doors, will seek to reach an amicable settlement between Binay and Cayetano.
“There are matters which we leave to the complainant and the other person that should be settled on a personal basis,” Tolentino said, adding that “there will be transparency” in the entire process.
He said a formal investigation into the ethics complaint filed by Binay against Cayetano will be held if the mediation process fails.
Binay has sued Cayetano before the Senate panel for his alleged unparliamentary behavior after they engaged in a heated argument during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Accounts, which is reviewing the cost of the construction of the new Senate building in Taguig City.
Binay took offense with Cayetano’s allegation that she purportedly gave media entities prepared questionnaires when she was interviewed in relation to the issue.
The two senators’ argument started when Binay said the construction cost of the Senate building was estimated to reach P21 billion. On the other hand, Cayetano, citing documents submitted to the committee, said the project cost will reach more than P23 billion.
The original project cost for the building was only P8.9 billion.
Binay formerly chaired the Senate Committee on Accounts which is in-charge of the project. She was replaced by Cayetano after she resigned during the change in the chamber’s leadership last May.
In the last committee hearing, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said the estimated total cost to complete the new project would reach between P25 to P27 billion.
CONCILIATION PROCESS
Tolentino said the conciliation process was among the rules that was approved by the committee during its organizational meeting yesterday.
Under the revised rules, Tolentino said parties who are at rift will initially be called to a conciliation meeting and the committee will try to mend their differences amicably. The meeting will be held behind closed doors.
The outcome of the meeting will be announced to the public by the committee chairman.
“There are outbursts, there are things that probably can be said due to passion and the emotional combustion in a setting which can probably be clarified in a more friendly atmosphere,” Tolentino said in mixed Filipino and English.
If the conciliation process fails and both parties refuse to agree to a settlement, the committee will then proceed with the formal hearing of the complaint.
Tolentino said he believes that the misunderstanding between Binay and Cayetano will be fixed in the conciliation level.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, who is a member of the committee, also expressed hopes that the conciliation process will work between Binay and Cayetano.
He said, though, that if a formal investigation proceeds, Binay and Cayetano can expect fair treatment from the members of the committee.
“Basahin natin ang merits of the complaint and of course, the merits of the comment (We will look into the merits of the complaint, and of course, the merits of the comments),” he said.
