Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said it is only normal for lawmakers to be emotional when pushing their advocacies, following the heated argument between Senators Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and Alan Peter Cayetano in a plenary session on Tuesday night. 

“The members of the Senate are passionate about their advocacies, and in the course of our proceedings, it is natural that discussion and discourse can sometimes become heated,” Escudero told reporters in an ambush interview in Malacañang on Wednesday. 

“Nangyayari lang talaga minsan (It happens sometimes),” he added. 

The Senate president was at the plenary hall when Zubiri and Cayentano traded barbs over the adoption of a concurrent resolution, seeking to include 10 Enlisted Men's Barrios (EMBO) barangays in the two legislative districts of Taguig City and Municipality of Pateros.

"I was presiding when it happened but it all happened when the session was suspended," he said.

“We are only human. Whatever our differences, however, we share a common goal: to serve our constituents and do right by them to the best of our ability,” he added. 

In recognition of public service, Escudero said Zubiri and Cayetano “were able to immediately patch it up and resolve their differences before the evening ended.”

“Nangyari 'yung insidente pasado alas nuebe na rin kasi, so medyo pagod na rin 'yung mga miyembro (The incident happened past 9:00 p.m. so the members were already tired),”he added. 

Escudero stressed that the two longtime public servants “have amicably settled their differences, and have put this episode behind them.”

Citing it was not part of the chamber’s agenda for the plenary session, Zubiri questioned the tackling of the Cayetano-authored Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 23 and pushed for discussion during Wednesday's session.

Cayetano, meanwhile, justified the urgency of the measure as the Senate is set to adjourn plenary sessions from 27 September to 3 November.