The leaders of the House of Representatives expressed they were embarrassed by the cursing and near fisticuffs of their two colleagues during the hearing on Charter Change.
This was the reaction of the two high officials of the lower chamber of the Congress after the behaviors of Representatives Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte and Prospero Pichay of Surigao del Sur on Wednesday afternoon.
The disagreement happened towards the end of the hearing of the committee on constitutional amendments as the committee was discussing whether or not to vote on a motion to constitute Congress into a constituent assembly to draft the amendments to the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
On Thursday, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said, “Nahiya ako (I was embarrassed).” “It’s negative … It should not have happened.”
Alvarez’s sentiment was also echoed by Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas, saying the incident “reflects on us because they’re members, they’re colleagues.”
“After all the positive things we’re doing at the House — the daily roll call, the smooth passage of the budget — then came this sideshow,” Farinas added.
After knowing the incident, Farinas reviewed the footage of the altercation of Barbers and Pichay at the hearing of the committee. He said he would meet with Barbers and Pichay and try to convince the two to reconcile.
Since the incident, Barbers and Pichay have so far refused to apologize to each other.
Following the altercation, Alvarez and Farinas clarified they would not prevent either of the two colleagues from filing a complaint against the other before the ethics committee of the Lower House.
As a Majority Leader, Farinas said he might sit down at the committee hearing as concurrent chairperson of the committee on constitutional amendments to facilitate the discussion because he acknowledged that Charter change is a controversial issue in the country, due to federalism being pushed by the administration.
“The Speaker and I have talked and we decided that eventually, I will take over as chair of the constitutional amendments (committee) because it’s a major issue. I will defend it on the floor, anyway, when it reaches there,” Farinas said.