The Session Hall of the Senate of the Philippines nearly turned into a battle arena on Tuesday night after Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri almost got into a fistfight if not the timely intervention of their colleagues.
The heated exchange nearly turned into a brawl was not seen during the live feed of the Senate but a circulating video on social media unfolded what happened after the session was temporarily suspended.
The two senators were caught lashing at each other over a concurrent resolution to include the 10 enlisted men’s barrios or EMBO barangays in the two legislative districts of the City of Taguig and Municipality of Pateros, a measure introduced by Cayetano.
In the viral video, Cayetano, whose family hails from Taguig City, was seen explaining the rules of the Senate to Zubiri, who earlier questioned why the resolution was being tackled since it was not included in the daily agenda.
“Under the rules, you have one day,” Cayetano heard speaking to Zubiri while stepping away from the pulpit. He was interrupted by Zubiri before finishing his sentence.
“No, no. Don’t give me that…” Zubiri said interjecting Cayetano from speaking.
“Don’t give me sh*t din, pare. Pag lugar mo, ilang beses kang nakiusap sakin eh. Saka wag mo kong sigawan, ilang beses ka rin nakiusap hanggang doon,” a visibly upset Cayetano told the former Senate President.
(Translation: “Don’t throw sh*t at me either, man. How many times have you asked me for favors for your turf? And don’t yell at me — you’ve asked me for help more than once,” a visibly agitated Cayetano fired back at the former Senate President.)
At this point, Zubiri moved closer to Cayetano while asking what he wanted to happen.
“Anong gusto mo?” Zubiri asked Cayetano face to face.
Still furious, Cayetano responded to Zubiri.
“Nag abroad ka pa. Ano’ng gusto mo? Ano’ng gusto mo? P*tang*na (You went abroad. What do you want? What do you want? F***)”, Cayetano shouted, slamming his phone on the desk as if ready to engage in a fight with Zubiri.
Senator JV Ejercito, who appeared to be in the middle of the squabble between Cayetano and Zubiri at the start of the video clip, immediately intervened to stop an inevitable fistfight.
“Relax, relax, relax,” Ejercito said while trying to separate Cayetano and Zubiri.
Senator Pia Cayetano also attempted to intervene as her brother, visibly enraged, hurled profanities at Zubiri, refusing to back down even as tensions escalated.
“T*ngina, sindak ka nang sindak dito eh! Bakit sinisigawan mo ko. Anong pakialam mo?! Wala ka naman pakialam sa mga boboto doon eh. Interest mo lang iniisip mo (F***, you're trying to intimidate us here! Why are you yelling at me? Why do you care? You don't even care about those who are voting; you're only thinking about your own interests),” Cayetano said while being held by her sister and Ejercito.
Zubiri, remaining composed, responded, “Anong sindak? Tahimik nga ako dito eh (What intimidation? I’ve been sitting quietly here).”
Still furious, Cayetano shot back, “Ano sabi ko sayo? Sabi ko, pare baka pwede makiusap this is too important (What did I tell you? I said, 'Man, maybe you could reconsider, this is too important’).”
The video clip ended with the two senators being held back from a possible physical altercation.
The next scene was shown during the resumption of the session in the live feed with Cayetano clarifying if Zubiri wanted to suspend the approval of the current resolution he is pushing.
“Before that, am I correct that the former Senate President wants to move that we suspend the consideration of this concurrent resolution and discuss it tomorrow? If yes, then…,” Cayetano said in his manifestation.
Zubiri responding to Cayetano’s query, said “First of all, I know nothing about this bill. Nothing. It just came out here. So, this is a concurrent resolution, this is not just a simple Senate concurrent resolution.”
“I was a majority leader like you’ve been a majority leader and the concurrent resolution has a force of a -- before the Supreme Court came out with the decision that it doesn’t have a force of law -- it used to have a force of law,” he said.
He continued: “So my only question is, with due respect to you, I know it’s a local issue. It is important to you guys, and I don’t want to disenfranchise anyone. I just hope that it was explained to us first.
Zubiri also underscored that a “due courtesy” must be given to their colleague, referring to Senator Nancy Binay, whose political clan hails from Makati City.
The 10 EMBO barangays used to be under the jurisdiction of Makati City before the Supreme Court settled the territorial dispute and declared the said barangays, including Bonifacio Global City, a central business district and major financial hub, as part of Taguig City.
Alan’s wife, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, and Nancy’s sister, Makati Mayor Abby Binay, have been in a word war since the Supreme Court came out with the decision.
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who presided over the session, clarified that the concurrent resolution of Congress is “no different from an ordinary resolution.”
“Hence, it does not have to go through three separate readings on three separate days,” Escudero said before allowing Cayetano to make a response to Zubiri.
Likewise, the Senate chief noted that the chamber “did give due courtesy” to Binay, “even if these involve barangays that are no longer part of Makati.”
For his part, Cayetano stressed that the issue “was not an emotional issue,” and a “local issue" but rather an issue of “constitutional importance.”
“I don’t want to take the risk, you saw the rain today. What if there’s a storm tomorrow and we adjourn? So no one from EMBO can run for Congressman? No one can vote? This is a five-page resolution, very easy reading,” he said.
In the end, the Senate adopted the Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 23.