Senate President Franklin Drilon bullies youth solon Physically and politically heavyweight, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon is under fire for allegedly bullying a young, neophyte lawmaker who may have irked the veteran senator for authoring a measure for a congressional inquiry into a government building in Iloilo. During a chance encounter at the birth anniversary party of Aurora Rep. Bellafl or Angara-Castillo, the tall and bulky Drilon gave Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon a dressing down right in front of other guests, including congressmen belonging to the House minority bloc. The 5’4” Ridon was stunned at Drilon’s behavior that he was not able to utter anything. “I got a dressing down from the Senate President himself last night. A personal attack. Bullying, essentially,” Ridon said. Equally shocked in seeing Drilon fuming at Ridon were congressmen and other guests who were with Ridon at the table. Among them were Reps. Carol Jane Lopez (YACAP party-list) and Arnel Ty (LPGMA party-list). Drilon was apparently angered by Ridon’s insistence in calling for a congressional investigation into allegations of overpricing in the construction of the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) that the Senate President funded through his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the “pork barrel” fund. Last week, Ridon filed House Resolution 1466 urging the House Committee on Public Works and Highways to take the lead in probing the alleged anomalous construction of the ICC by Hillmarcs Construction Corp. Ridon said that the P700-million ICC is possibly overpriced, and may even be more expensive – on a per square-meter valuation – than China’s Bird’s Nest Stadium. Drilon allocated P200 million of his 2013 PDAF for the construction of the ICC. Other sources of funds for the ICC include the P200 million from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and another P200 million from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). A witness to the incident said Drilon started “seething in anger” when he learned that one of those at Angara’s party is a critic. Requesting anonymity, the witness supported Ridon’s narration of the incident. “I think Drilon owes Congressman Ridon, Ma’am Belle (Angara-Castillo), and everybody else an apology,” said the witness, who admitted dreading that Drilon’s large fist would land straight to the face of Ridon. The Kabataan solon disclosed that he came face-to-face with Drilon when was table-hopping and came to their table. “As is protocol, we all stood up to greet him. I shook his hand, and he asked who I was. Congressman Ridon, I said. Then he imploded,” Ridon recounted. “Jesus Christ, why do you keep insulting me? What did I ever do to you?” Drilon allegedly roared. “He said these repeatedly as I stood quietly before him, his fingers pointed at me accusingly,” Ridon said. “Even as he turned away, he still kept muttering, “Why do you keep insulting me? What did I do to you?” repeating those lines to other guests present in the party,” added the young solon. Interviewed over radio DZBB, Ridon admitted that as a young lawmaker, he decided not to answer back. “Mr. Senate President, I was not able to tell you this last night, but let me just say that I never called you names, nor did I call you corrupt. I just said that the ICC might have been overpriced, and its bidding rigged. I never expected that a seasoned politician like you will go this low and resort to bullying,” Ridon said yesterday. tempo.ph/2014/09/drilon-bullies-youth-solon/
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:06:51 +0000
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