Nancy Binay-Alan Cayetano conciliation meeting set but behind closed doors - Tolentino

The Senate ethics and privileges committee will hold a conciliation meeting between Senator Nancy Binay and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano behind closed doors, its chairperson Senator Francis Tolentino said on Wednesday. 

Tolentino made the remark in an ambush interview after the Senate panel conducted an organizational meeting to complete the committee's composition and amend its rules.

"No, closed door," Tolentino said when asked if the conciliation meeting would be open to the public.

"There are matters that we will leave to the complainant and the other person that should be settled on a personal basis, but the results will be transparent," he added.

According to Tolentino, the committee has approved an amendment to its rule where a reconciliation process will be held before conducting the hearings.

This aims to "reach an amicable settlement."

The amended rules will be effective 15 days after their publication. After which, the committee can hold the conciliation meeting.

"There are outbursts; there are things that can probably be said due to passion and emotional combustion in a setting that can probably be clarified in a more friendly atmosphere," Tolentino said in explaining the need for the new rule.

This reconciliation process between Binay and Cayetano was earlier suggested by Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero.

Binay has filed an ethics complaint against Cayetano over his "unparliamentary conduct" during an inquiry into the cost of the New Senate Building (NSB).

During the said hearing, Cayetano called Binay "marites," a popular slang among Filipinos for rumor-mongerer; told her "Nabuang ka na, 'day (You've gone crazy);" and accused her of disturbing the Senate hearing.

Cayetano launched the inquiry into the new Senate building after Escudero ordered a review of the cost of its construction, noting that funding has already reached P23 billion.

Binay, who walked out of the Senate committee on accounts hearing on July 3, said that the construction cost has reached P21 billion, not P23 billion as claimed by Cayetano. —VBL, GMA Integrated News