Word war erupts among senators

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Erwin Tulfo traded barbs over the need to resume the Blue Ribbon committee’s flood control probe while Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial is ongoing.

Cayetano took to his usual Facebook Live sessions to hit back at Tulfo, the Blue Ribbon chairman, for saying that Cayetano should keep his cool instead of going hysterical over the flood control mess.

Cayetano said it’s the public which could not keep its cool after billions – if not trillions – of public funds were allegedly lost to corruption.

“Sen. Erwin Tulfo said I should relax when I’m not the one who is not relaxed,” Cayetano said on Friday.

“It’s our countrymen. Every single Filipino has asked for an accounting of the biggest corruption scandal in our country’s history,” he added.

Cayetano said he won’t take the criticism lightly coming from Tulfo, a prominent news anchor also known for his hard-hitting radio program.

Cayetano claimed Tulfo has stated that there are no more new witnesses in the flood control probe.

This was a misleading take on Tulfo’s actual dzMM interview on Thursday about the resumption of the flood control probe.

Tulfo took over the flood control probe from Sen. Panfilo Lacson after he was elected as new Blue Ribbon chairman. Tulfo designated vice chairman Sen. Francis Pangilinan to continue the investigation on alleged public works corruption.

Tulfo called Cayetano “Boy Banat" and criticized him for being impatient with the resumption of the flood control probe amid their duties as senator-judges in the impeachment court.

“Just relax. We’ll get there,” Tulfo said.

Tulfo said the Blue Ribbon committee will need to officially convene first when session resumes after the July 27 joint session for President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address.

He said the Lacson-led probe exhausted all measures, resulting in the filing of charges against those involved, including Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a known Cayetano ally.

Attack dogs

Lacson took to X yesterday to deny Cayetano’s remarks about Lacson’s net worth, and exposed alleged ghost projects in Taguig, where Cayetano’s wife Lani Cayetano is mayor.

Cayetano branded Lacson and Tulfo as Malacañang “attack dogs.”

“Who let the dogs out?” Cayetano said.

Lacson brushed off Cayetano’s allegations that his net worth had doubled since 2022, saying these are “wild insinuations and black propaganda against me.”