Marcoleta, Lacson trade barbs

A sharp exchange erupted Tuesday between Senators Rodante Marcoleta and Panfilo Lacson over the Senate’s reaction to the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and the heated confrontation between Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

Marcoleta expressed disappointment over what he said was the minority bloc’s lack of protest after the majority felt aggrieved by the incident.

“’Yung damdamin ko kahapon ang namayani. Bakit ganito na ang pagtrato sa amin? Minamaliit kaming masyado (My feelings yesterday took over. Why are we being treated this way? We are being belittled).” Marcoleta said.

He said the minority senators did not visibly object to the arrest of Estrada or the argument between Cayetano and Remulla.

“Pagkatapos sila [minority] wala man lang ipinakita na protesta, halimbawa, huwag mo naman sisigawan ang Senate President namin (They did not protest at all, for example, do not shout at our Senate President),” he said.

Lacson responded in a social media post, rejecting the suggestion that the minority bloc should have protested.

“So, kasalanan pa ng minority bloc na hindi nag-protesta dahil sinigawan ang Senate President natin (So it was the minority’s fault for not protesting when the Senate President was shouted at)?” Lacson wrote.

He added: “Actually, laking pasasalamat nga namin na hindi siya binigwasan ni Sec Jonvic dahil sa inasal niya kahapon. Damn your damdamin. (we were thankful Sec Jonvic didn’t slug him).”

The exchange followed the tension in the Senate over the service of the arrest warrant against Estrada in the Senate. Cayetano had objected to how the arrest was carried out, triggering a heated verbal confrontation with Remulla.