• Home
  • About me
  • My Privacy Policy

Inside Philippine politics & beyond

The nuns went tsk, tsk, tsk during Antonio Tiu’s Senate testimony on ‘Hacienda Binay’

November 27, 2014

Share:
Twitter0
Facebook0
LinkedIn0
Pinterest0

And my other experiences while testifying at the Senate

By Raïssa Robles

When I testified at the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee on Oct 30, a clutch of nuns in white and grey habit quietly sat in the rear gallery of the Senate session hall. Well, maybe they weren’t TOTALLY quiet.

During the testimony of businessman Antonio Tiu, some of the nuns went “tsk, tsk, tsk” and shook their heads, according to a friend of mine who sat with them.

The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, who has the job of keeping order in the hall at all times, would raise a sign that said “Silence” in order to shush the up. The nuns would subside. But then they would go “tsk,tsk,tsk” again upon hearing more from Antonio Tiu.

And the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms would once again raise the sign that said “Silence.”

When I talked to them before the session started they told me they were members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP).

Those who know what the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines is would understand the significance of the nuns’ presence at a politically charged event. During the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, the nuns of the AMRSP were at the front lines fighting human rights abuses. Today the AMRSP is one of the vanguards of the anti-corruption movement within the Catholic Church.

During the recent closed-door meeting of Vice-President Jejomar Binay with the Catholic Bishops, some nuns were also present according to news reports. I wonder if some of them were the same ones who had attended the Senate hearings and went “tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Here’s a short video I took of the listening nuns. The video shows the view from inside what we reporters used to call “The Cage” – the area where “resource persons” and “witnesses” stayed, which was off limits to reporters.

When businessman Antonio Tiu was testifying I realized the stark difference between the first post-Edsa 1986 Senate and the Senate today. Tiu was actually being allowed to talk back to the senators. That was a no-no before. The likes of Senators Ernesto Maceda and John Osmena would have eviscerated him.

But I also realized that blasting Tiu would not have resulted in the kind of answers that he gave Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. Answers that could later be used against him and against VP Binay before a court of law.

During the interrogation of Tiu as a “resource person”, Senator Cayetano was more patient and diplomatic toward Tiu than Senator Antonio Trillanes. Trillanes accused Tiu several times of lying to his face.

Which is perhaps why VP Binay backed out of the debate with Trillanes that he had proposed in the first place. Trillanes would not have hesitated to tell Binay to his face on prime time TV that he was lying.

And Binay himself has a short temper.

* * *

Our row faced the senators directly. The row on my left had the resource persons who belonged mostly to the Binay side: The vice-president’s legal counsel Martin Subido, Antonio Tiu and Hillmarc Construction Corporation chair Efren Canlas. I knew that Atty JV Bautista and UNA spokesman Toby Tiangco were gate-crashers that day because there was no name plate neatly prepared for them on any table.

Again, that kind of behavior would never have been tolerated by previous senators.

When Toby Tiangco and JV Bautista came in, JV and former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado had a brief shouting match.

* * *

One advantage I had testifying at the Senate was that I was inside The Cage for the first time.

I took the opportunity to hook up with sources exchanging business cards and phone numbers as I could from among the other witnesses and resource persons.

When I asked the dreaded Tax Commissioner Kim Henares for her business card, she asked me sharply “Who are you?” She was refreshingly blunt.

When I gave her my card, she softened and told me she didn’t recognize me because my hair was now long, compared to my photo (on the Internet, I guess) where my hair was shorter.

* * *

My seat mate that day was Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa. Perhaps, had I met her during coverage we wouldn’t have been as comfortable chatting with each other. But there’s a certain invisible bond generated among witnesses and resource persons – at least in the middle row where I sat.

I noticed that BIR’s Henares, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes and SEC Chair Herbosa used the breaks in the Senate probe to compare notes and impressions with each other on VP Binay’s case. Probably for the first time. They also said they would get in touch with each other on certain documents.

Here below is a snippet of a video I took of the Senate session hall. The voices in the background are those of Henares and the other officials discussing the case.

Someone asked me what the food was like at the Senate.

The short answer: “Tough”. Whatever it is the Senate is spending its budget on, it isn’t on fine food.

The food – brought to the witnesses and resource persons by uniformed waiters – was well presented on a plate and covered with Saran plastic wrap to keep the heat in. I was debating whether or not to eat lunch because I knew the audience and the journalists would not be getting any. But feeling faint with hunger, I decided to eat. The cream soup was promising, not outstanding but well seasoned.

The meat was bland and gnarly. Except for the nice cutlery, It reminded me of the food at Vinzon’s Hall in the days of gastronomic nightmare at the University of the Philippines

* * *

After the Senate hearing, I met for the first time Senator Cayetano and we shook hands. His hand was very cold, I realized, from the central air-conditioning. I wondered how he could stand the cold in his barong.

He joked he wasn’t sure he wanted to be interviewed by me because he noticed that all those I had interviewed later met their downfall.

I smiled.

I don’t know why a word balloon persisted in my mind while talking with Sen. Cayetano. It consisted of two words – “yung kahoy”. The words that former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told Cayetano. Anybody who can reduce the former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile to uttering such memorable lines is an interesting subject for me.

Plus, I would like to see for myself “yung kahoy” that Enrile said he had supplied the Cayetano family home that should have earned him their life-long gratitude and loyalty.

Tagged With: Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa, Senate probe on VP Binay

Comments

  1. NHerrera says

    November 29, 2014 at 1:49 PM

    Mahar Mangahas’ “Ting Paterno, economist” and Solita Collas-Monsod’s “Disastrous for the economy” both in today’s inquirerdotnet, write about statistics-based comments related to the economy — both Mangahas and Monsod being economists. (Paterno featured in the recent article of Raissa.)

    With an academic base of professionals, it is to be hoped that the Philippines — which to my mind is a rich field of study in the Philippine Political System, a made-to-order laboratory of sorts — may be researched more in this area by our young professionals in Political Science using statistics, as is done in economics.

    To my mind, we have few of these learned political scientists. Instead we have so-called political scientists acting as talking-heads in TV interviews with comments no better than the CPMers here (pardon CPMers for the comparison).

  2. Martial Bonifacio says

    November 29, 2014 at 9:19 AM

    @Raissa About the other farm…
    Remember the exchange between Mr. Tiu and Sen. Cayetano when he boast about having another farm/property similar to the Hacienda Binay? He never disclose the location of that farm during the Senate Blue Ribbon Sub-committee.

    It would be nice if media can remind Mr. Tiu & the Senators about his revelation so we will know the exact location of that other farm.

    @Alan “Hooligan Response Chart”
    Link: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/blogs/opinions/11/28/14/hooligan-response-chart

    Better change the name from STAND UP to stand down.

    • Alan says

      November 29, 2014 at 10:15 AM

      Yes, where are the hooligans of UP when you need them?

      • moonie says

        November 30, 2014 at 5:20 AM

        busy looking out where the next boodle fight is going to be? standing on hind legs like meerkats, heads up and sniffing the air around.

        bet, they also wear binay’s t-shirts as under shirts. dapat mamigay rin ng briefs si binay to complete the ensemble.

« Older Comments
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist Then they came fof the Trade Unionists, and I did not out speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me— And there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

Subscribe to raissarobles.com

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from raissarobles.com:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

This blog uses MailChimp as a mass mailing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to MailChimp but only for processing. Learn more about MailChimp's privacy practices here.

Christopher “Bong” Go is a billionaire – Duterte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NmX1Px57cI

Find more of my articles by typing here:

My Stories (2009 – Present)

Cyber-Tambayan on Twitter:

Tweets by raissawriter

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT