Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Thursday dismissed allegations that members of the Senate minority showed a lack of concern for their majority colleagues following the May 13 shooting incident inside the Senate complex.
Taking to social media, Lacson took a direct swipe at recent emotional remarks made by Senator Pia Cayetano during a plenary session, where she criticized the minority bloc for failing to check on fellow lawmakers who remained stranded in the building during the security scare.
“Quote of the day: ‘Wala man lang nangumusta sa amin!’” Lacson wrote.
“Quote of the day: ‘No one even bothered to check on us!'”
Lacson rejected the narrative, calling it unfair and pointing out that the behavior of some majority senators during the crisis contradicted the claim that they were in distress.
“Paano mo ba naman kukumustahin ang mga masasayang nagkakainan, nagkakape at naka (Facebook) live pa para pagbintangan ang minority bloc na may alam daw sa putukan ng baril sa Senado?” he added.
“How can you check on people who were happily eating, drinking coffee, and even going Facebook live just to accuse the minority bloc of having prior knowledge about the gunfire in the Senate?”
The controversy stems from the May 13 standoff between Senate security forces and individuals suspected to be operatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The tension escalated into gunfire during an attempt to serve an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who managed to safely leave the Senate premises hours after the incident.