Nancy Binay walks out of Alan Cayetano-led hearing on new Senate building

Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday walked out of the Senate committee on accounts' inquiry regarding the supposed increased funding for the new Senate building after trading barbs with panel chairman Senator Alan Cayetano.

Cayetano launched the inquiry into the matter after Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero ordered a review on the cost of the building, noting that the funding for the construction has already reached P23 billion.

Binay, the former chairperson of the panel, maintained that the cost for the construction has not reached P23 billion as earlier claimed by Escudero and Cayetano, but only P21 billion.

"Do your math. P21 [billion] is not P23 [billion]. Mr. Chairman, pareho ba ang P21 [billion] at P23 [billion] (Mr. Chairman, is P21 billion the same as P23 billion)? " Binay said.

Cayetano, for his part, maintained that the cost is P23 billion as this includes the P1.6 billion for the land acquisition.

The two senators traded barbs for several minutes, which started when Binay pointed out that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) should not apologize to the Senate, as demanded by Cayetano, over the records they presented before the committee.  

Cayetano accused Binay of disrupting the public hearing and it even came to a point where he insinuated that his fellow senator was feeding questions to the media to raise the issues related to the feud between Makati City and Taguig City.

The Binay and Cayetano families have held the mayoralty posts in Makati City and Taguig City, respectively, for decades.

"Ano bang intention mo na guguluhin mo ang hearing natin? Ang dami mo nang inimbentong sa media, imbento ka naka-10 interview ka, baka ito naman 'yung Makati-Taguig, eh hindi mo man lang iniba question sa radyo. Lahat pare-pareho ang question, eksakto pa. Eh 'di halatang ikaw nagbigay ng question," Cayetano said.

(What is your intention in disrupting our hearing? You have invented so many things in your media interviews. You've had 10 interviews already; this might be the Makati-Taguig issue. You didn't even bother to change the questions from the radio interview. They're exactly the same. So it's obvious that you fed the questions.)

Binay, in rebuffing her fellow senator, stressed that the DPWH wanted to clarify the issues that Cayetano were raising, but they were not given a chance to answer the questions properly.

"Kanina pa gusto magpaliwanag ng DPWH, hindi sila makapagpaliwanag nang maayos... Hindi ako ang nanggugulo, Mr. Chairman. Pagpasok ko pa lang ang gulo na ng hearing," she pointed out.

(The DPWH has been meaning to provide explanations, but they've been unable to do this properly... I'm not making a mess in the hearing, Mr. Chairman. It was already a mess when I arrived.)

This went on until Binay asked the DPWH if there was P23 billion in their documents for the new Senate building's cost.

DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain responded to Binay, "There is none."

After Sadain's response, Binay told Cayetano, "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I made my point. There's no such thing as P23 billion sa DPWH. Thank you, Mr. Chair."

At this point, Binay walked out from the hearing room.

After Binay turned her back, Cayetano said, "Paulit-ulit na tayo kanina pa na P21.7 billion. Nabuang ka na 'day. Tapusin natin nang maayos 'to. Senado to ng Pilipinas. Hindi ito palengke."

(We have been saying P21.7 billion over and over again. You've lost your mind. Let's finish this properly. This is the Senate of the Philippines. It's not a marketplace.)

Reminder for Nancy

In an ambush interview, Binay said the Cayetano-led hearing "reminds" her of the 2015 Senate investigation into the Makati City Hall Parking Building, a project of her father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, when the latter was still the mayor of the city.

Cayetano played a vital role in the said investigation.

"This is a replay of the 24 Senate hearings noong 2015...Tingnan natin kung tatalunin ba nito 'yung record na 24 hearings," Binay said.

(This is a replay of the 24 Senate hearings in 2015... Let's see if the new Senate building hearings will trump the record of 24 hearings.)

"Siyempre, tao lang din naman tayo and parang 'yung sugat na akala ko naghilom na, parang binuksan ulit dahil naaalala ko 'yung ginawa sa pamilya ko, kung paano nila sinira 'yung pangalan namin," she went on.

(Of course, I'm just human. The wound that I thought was already closed seeming opened again because I remembered what was done to our family, what they did to smear our name.)

Binay also slammed Cayetano for supposedly demeaning marketplace workers.

Cayetano's remarks in relation to the media, Binay said, were an "affront to the journalistic profession."

"I strongly condemn Senator Alan Peter Cayetano's insinuations that members of the Senate Media and radio anchors can be swayed or influenced by senators," she added in a statement. — VDV, GMA Integrated News