MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – It was bound to happen. Two vice presidential candidates needed to settle their differences, and all it took was for Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes to sit apart.

 

In yesterday’s Philippine Senate hearing on alleged extra-judicial killings, Trillanes accused Cayetano of being “madaldal” (talkative, blabbermouth).

Cayetano, on the other hand, said he had the right as a senator elected by the people to get to the bottom of a witness testimony.  That witness testified that he was a member of the so-called Davao Death Squads (DDS) which allegedly perpetrated EJK in Davao City when President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was still mayor.

The hearing turned into a verbal confrontation between Cayetano and Trillanes — on and off the mike.  At one point, committee chair  Leila De Lima had to put herself in between the two senators.

In the end, Cayetano asked De Lima to order Trillanes from talking to him. “He keeps talking to me.  I don’t want to talk to him,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano moved to another seat away from Trillanes.  Trillanes was named official Senate timekeeper.  And De Lima displayed a skill never before seen from her — being a good referee.

All’s well that ends well.