Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday walked out from the inquiry of the Senate Committee on Accounts after a heated exchange with panel chairman Senator Alan Cayetano.
The committee was conducting an inquiry regarding the supposed increased funding for the new Senate building.
Cayetano launched the inquiry into the matter after Senate President Francis Escudero ordered a review on the cost of the building, after noting that the funding for the said project has already ballooned to P23 billion.
Binay, who was the former chairperson of the panel, maintained that the cost for the construction has not reached P23 billion as earlier claimed by Escudero and Cayetano, but only P21 billion.
“Do your math. P21 [billion] is not P23 [billion]. Mr. Chairman, pareho ba ang P21 [billion] at P23 [billion] (Mr. Chairman, is P21 billion the same as P23 billion)? ” Binay, quoted by GMA News, said.
However, Cayetano maintained that the cost is P23 billion as this includes the P1.6 billion for the land acquisition.
“What’s your intention in disturbing our hearing? It’s P23 billion total,” Cayetano told Binay, whom he allowed to attend the hearing although she is not a member of the Accounts committee.
Binay was a former chair of the committee which oversees the construction of the new Senate building.
Cayetano also assailed Binay for allegedly fabricating stories to the media.
“You had already 10 interviews. This might be the Makati-Taguig (politics). You did not even change the questions being asked by the media. So it’s obvious the questions came from you,” Cayetano said.
The two senators traded barbs for several minutes until Binay asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) if there was P23 billion in their documents for the new Senate building’s cost.
DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain, responding to Binay, said: “There is none.”
After this exchange, Binay turned to Cayetano, saying that she “made my point” and that there’s no P23 billion, as far as the DPWH is concerned.
Binay then walked out of the hearing room. Cayetano, quoted by GMA News, made a retort, saying: “You (Binay) have lost your mind.”
“Let’s finish this properly. This is the Senate of the Philippines. It’s not a marketplace,” he further said.