Metro Manila, Philippines – Minority members Sen. Ping Lacson and Sen. Erwin Tulfo are unfazed by Sen. Pia Cayetano’s emotional breakdown in a recent session, questioning their colleague’s claims on what transpired during the controversial shoot out on Senate grounds.
Tulfo on Thursday denied Cayetano’s claim that minority bloc senators did not check on their colleagues during the shooting incident at the Senate last May 13.
Tulfo said senators from both factions of the chamber sent messages of concern since all of them were in one group chat.
“Meron po nagpadala po ng message. Nakita po doon si Senator Kiko, Senator Bam, Senator Sherwin, maging ako po, yung sa akin po, ipinadala ko po around 9:57. Tapos sumagot po yung si Senadora Camille, sabi niya, ‘Thank you, we’re all okay,’” he said.
[Translation: We received a message. It showed Senator Kiko (Pangilinan), Senator Bam (Aquino), Senator Sherwin (Gatchalian), and even me. In my case, I sent it around 9:57. Then Senator Camille replied, saying: Thank you, we’re all okay.]
“Ewan ko kung bakit hindi po nabasa ni Senator Pia po ‘yun, [I don’t know why Sen. Pia was unable to read it.]” he added.
Meanwhile, Sen. Lacson took a swipe at Cayetano on X (formerly Twitter) after the latter expressed her sentiments in a personal manifestation mid-session.
“Paano mo ba naman kukumustahin ang mga masasayang nagkakainan, nagkakape at naka FB live pa para pagbintangan ang minority bloc na may alam daw sa putukan ng baril sa Senado?” he wrote.
[Translation: How can you even ask how they’re doing when they’re happily eating together, having coffee, and even going on Facebook Live — all while accusing the minority bloc of supposedly knowing about the gunfire incident in the Senate?]
This comes after Cayetano turned emotional in response to Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ remarks condemning the gunshot scare at the Senate.
“Simula noong Lunes, ang pinapakita natin ay para bang walang nangyari,” Hontiveros said. “Na para bang hindi nabastos ang ating institusyon.”
[Translation: Since Monday, we have been trying to make it seem like nothing has happened…It’s as if the institution was not disrespected.]
In response, Cayetano revealed her frustration over the now-minority bloc members: “Yung dating majority group, walang ni-isa sa inyong nangamusta sa’min [The previous majority group, not one of you asked how we were doing.].”
The exchange was a continuing discussion from the whirlwind of events last week that saw the reappearance of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on May 11 to vote for the removal of then Senate President Tito Sotto. Dela Rosa has gone into hiding again.
