And the dye has been cast….
Senator Richard Gordon has elevated his grievance to the
Ethics Committee of the Senate.
Senator Trillanes will be facing suspension or expulsion by
his colleagues if found guilty of "unparliamentary conduct." *
 |
| Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon claims he has the support of more than 14 senators in his ethics complaint against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.(photo credit to the owner) |
The 23-page complaint received late Monday by the Committee
on Ethics and Privileges comes less than a week after the two senators butted
heads during the emotional packed hearing regarding the P6.4-billion shabu
shipment from China.
Gordon saidm its about time for the Senate to discipline
Trillanes for his "continuous, unabated, unparliamentary acts, language,
and conduct."
Gordeon requested the Ethics Committee to "conduct an
investigation on the unparliamentary conduct and disorderly behavior of Senator
Antonio F. Trillanes IV, to the end that he be penalized accordingly."
Section 16 of Article VI of the 1987 Constitution says,
"Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members
for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its
Members, suspend or expel a Member."
A penalty of suspension, when imposed, may last up to 60
days.
"Senator
Trillanes disrespected and deliberately maligned the Senate Blue Ribbon
Committee by branding it as a 'comite de absuelto,' or a body absolving the
accused of wrongdoing, Senator Gordon said.
"Such
utterances offend the Chairman, the Committee, and the Senate. To reduce the
Blue Ribbon Committee as a 'comite de absuelto' is to make a mockery of the
work put in by the members of the Committee to investigate the shipment of 604
kilograms of shabu from China into the country," Gordon added. *
Trillanes'
use of words and improper conduct also violates Section 94 of the Rules of the
Senate, which states that "no senator, under any circumstances, shall use
offensive or improper language against another Senator or against any public
institution."
Gordon said
Trillanes also "lied and unfairly and maliciously charged" him,
Senator Tito Sotto and other members of the Blue Ribbon Committee of bias and
partiality.
Trillanes
past actions
Gordon in his complaint
narrated a "pattern of unbecoming
conduct and insulting language against persons and public institutions."
He noted several other instances in the past,
"Senator
Trillanes is fond of making statements without factual basis and proof,"
Gordon said. He cited Trillanes' allegation that the Senate "is now one of
the most damaged institutions in government."
He said
Trillanes' demeanor was also scrutinized by fellow senators in the past,
including Senator JV Ejercito and Ping Lacson.
He also hit
the former mutineer for preventing self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato to take
the witness stand during a hearing of the Committee of Justice and Human Rights
on alleged extrajudicial killings in October last year.
It was
Trillanes and Senator Leila De Lima, staunch critics of the Duterte
administration, who presented Matobato as witness but on that day, Trillanes
took it upon himself to remove Matobato away from Senate premises, saying he
was giving the witness protective custody.
Gordon cited
nine instances of Trillanes' misconduct.
"It is
a series of many acts of defamation, slurring the Senate institution, offensive
language, disorderly behavior and conduct which disrupts committee hearings
that has caused damage to the institution and its members," Gordon said. *
Reports from
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