Meme Of The Day: "Yung kahoy...san galing yung mga kahoy?"

Heated may not be sufficient to describe the debate between senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Juan Ponce- Enrile.   Fiery, ugly and downright dirty may be enough. And transfixed may be the word that would describe their audience (me included, of course) as two of them argued and threw accusations at each other this afternoon. Their word war surely will cause someone to roll in his grave. 

Senatorial Face-Off: Allan Peter Cayetano and Juan Ponce-Enrile

The furor began when Senate President JPE distributed cash gifts to his fellow senators as Christmas bonus which were sourced from the Senate's savings. The problem was the dough was unevenly distributed, and APC with his co-senator and sister Pia along with other three members of the minority only received measly amounts whereas some members of the "august hall" (that was laced with sarcasm of course), specifically known allies of JPE,  were given over Php2M each. It looks like JPE practices favoritism too, which fanned out the controversy (way faster and wilder than the Australian bushfires),  between him and the other senators notably Miriam Defensor-Santiago and the Cayetano siblings. Defensor-Santiago and JPE's rift can be labelled lame compared to  APC and JPE's confrontation. Mas mainit, mas malaman, mas maanghang po. Skeletons were definitely rattled and kicked out of the closet... dirty linens waved around and washed in public. Insinuations were intellectually stimulating, accusations were expectedly juicy. Need I say more?

Below are some of the "juiciest" cuts. Enjoy!

APC: "Bakit ba kayo inis at galit sa akin personally? Dahil dati na po kayong galit sa akin sapagkat napakalapit po ninyong dalawa ni Atty Gigi sa dating Pangulong GMA at kay First Gentleman. Kasama naman po talaga kayo noon di ba, sa planning group at sa asar na isang katulad ko ay pwedeng tumayo sa Kongreso at labanan sila. At diba si Ma’am Gigi, best friend po niya ang asawa ni Justice Tinga na nakalaban ng asawa ko sa Taguig. At ang hipag naman ni Ma’am Gigi o sister-in-law niya ay isang konsehal sa Taguig na number 1 kritiko ng aking asawa. So every time may hearing dito, pati si Chairman Brillantes, sa inyong opisinang diretso, ako ang inuupakan at minsan tinutulungan niyo pa kaya nagkakasagutan tayo."

JPE: "Tungkol sa iyong yumaong ama. Nandito hanggang ngayon, 'di nabayaran utang niya na ginastos sa opisina namin na tinayo ko para may pakain sa pamilya niya, P37M." 

APC: "Nung siya’y tumakbong senador, he practically gave his life to you. Nung panahon ni President Cory, kayo’y nakulong, siya ang katabi niyo. Nung panahon ng EDSA Revolution, siya ang katabi niyo. Nung kayo’y payaman nang payaman, siya ay nagtiis din sa law office...I don’t remember he owed you P37 million. My father worked for every single centavo and it’s unfair for you to bring that up. E, kung sabihin ko sa iyo ngayon na tatay mo ang may utang sa amin? E paano naman nila mapapaliwanag?”

APC: "Ang bahay namin inutang sa bangko.”

JPE: "Ano ba yung bahay nyo?.. Yung mga kahoy,  saan galing?”   Enrile asked. 

JPE:  “I won't go down to the gutter".APC: "You already did. You involved a person already dead who can't answer...Your chief-of-staff has already gone to the gutter."