THERE was a time when Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Alan Peter Cayetano were the greatest of allies. As members of a sub-committee of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, the two carried on a sustained attack against then-Vice President Jejomar Binay and his family for alleged corrupt acts while they were in power in Makati City.
Together, they made a formidable team. Trillanes perfected the look of an intense investigator with the perpetual scowl; Cayetano was his usual logorrheic self. The trial arguably took its toll on Binay’s already-announced ambitions for the presidency. From being the frontrunner in the game, he slid pathetically to fourth place in the presidential polls last May.
It was not difficult to imagine Trillanes and Cayetano exchanging high-fives when this happened, even as they likely gave their performances for their own separate agenda. They both wanted to get in the good graces of the then-ruling Liberal Party. In the end, however, they both ran for vice president: Trillanes as an independent, and Cayetano as the running mate of then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Both lost and went back to their Senate seats.
It does not mean they are less visible—or audible—these days. During last week’s Senate hearing that featured self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Edgardo Matobato, Trillanes and Cayetano again figured prominently. This time, however, they were on opposite sides: Trillanes tending to lend credence to Matobato’s claims about President Duterte’s role in the notorious group, while Cayetano, professing loyalty to Duterte, tending to discredit the witness and “test his motives.”
As they took their respective roles, civility flew out the window. Trillanes attacked Cayetano’s apparently endless questions and accused his colleague of grandstanding—a video clip where Trillanes told Cayetano he would not allow him the opportunity for “pa-porma” is now making the rounds of social media. In turn, Cayetano said his colleague was intimidating him and engaging in trash talk.
The two senators simply look like fools, and do not help at all the cause of according the Senate hearing the dignity and credibility it must have. In fact, because of the venom with which both of them speak, they should not be allowed to tarnish the already-fantastic proceedings any further.
The country did well in not voting either Trillanes or Cayetano as the second-highest official. For now, however, we have to endure their shameful presence in the Upper Chamber. Serves us right for bringing them there.