Neutrality is prescribed in a Senate impeachment trial as frigidly cold.
Part of cold neutrality is the prohibition of the use of unparliamentary language – insults, personal attacks, highly emotional rhetoric – signals that a senator-judge has abandoned objectivity. It is, plainly, a breach of the oath that senator-judges had sworn to.
A judge who engages in manipulative speech diminishes public confidence in the legitimacy of the entire verdict.
Senator-judge Pia Cayetano crossed that line. In her interjection to the two Amici Curiae, Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna, she called attention to herself rather than the issue at hand.
The transcript of that exchange is essential.
Pia Cayetano:
We have two senators in jail. If the one senator would be allowed to come here, I know Senator Estrada would like to speak on how he felt pressured. Aah another senator is in hiding because he was threatened na maglalabas ng ICC warrant. Pero pagkakaalam ko hindi pa nya nakita yung ICC warrant.
And then a fourth senator is on medical leave but she also was told na mafa-filean sya ng plunder cases.
Then I speak for myself. I went to Singapore to support a national team. And then I have to hear NBI Director making statements, that make it appear that I am a common fugitive, na na-monitor nya kung nasaan ako. At meron syang information kung anong araw ako babalik. Am I a fugitive? Bakit may ganito?
So I will tell you all now:
Am I pressured? I am. I am. (this is followed by a prolonged silence in the court room)
I fear for my liberty. (prolonged silence)
Even in the Senate, we have a colleague na walang katapusan tantanan kami (referring to Senator Panfilo Lacson)
I fear . . . for my right to speak. So what will happen now? Do I excuse myself? Pero kung hindi gagalawin yang number na yan, eh di nakapagsalita tayo dito ng maayos. Yun lang naman po. That’s all I have to say.
After asking a question to Chief Justice Reynato Puno, she makes an additional question to Justice Adolf Azcuna on the matter of “political pressure on political rivals” as she sees it, mentioning a staff of her brother who was instrumental in finding the poles of bemedalled athlete EJ Obiena but is now subpoenaed. She also names Monica Mitra, a staff of her brother, who was now charged in court (“nakasuhan na”).
So hindi pa ba pressure yun, Justice Azcuna?
Justice Azcuna:
I think it’s not for me to judge the circumstances of that particular case. I can only reiterate the premise of my submission that the reason for the threshold is to protect the Senate from artificial and partisan moves to prevent justice from being done.
It must be difficult to have Pia Cayetano as a colleague. She is manifestly self-centered who does not appear to accept a view contrary to hers. Seemingly, she is possibly sick of narcissism (grandiosity, excessive requirement for validation and attention, entitlement, etc.).
Tearjerking can be a form of emotionally manipulating her Senate colleagues. Tears can also be used to sway public sympathy. It appears not to have worked both ways.
It was also exploitative to name-drop EJ Obiena who has nothing to do with her brother Alan Peter’s possible entanglements with the law. That was foul.
The thing she calls pressure is actually a move that seeks her accountability. She is a public servant but does not even refer to herself as such because she dislikes correction. This is her predicament: Accountability is very much in the minds of the public. The public is intensely interested to see more senators in jail.
During her stint as chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Pia never scheduled any investigation focusing on her brother Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on the Taguig flood control allegations. It is on record that during her short stint, she scheduled a hearing for June 4, 2026. However, that hearing targeted rival politicians including former Speaker Martin Romualdez, rather than her brother.
It is also on record that both Cayetanos refused to sign Senate documents on the flood control scandal. As a result, the investigation was stalled, benefitting both Cayetanos.
A vlogger has this simple adage of an advise to Pia Cayetano: You made your bed, now lie in it. Accept the unpleasant consequences of your own actions.
There is very ample grounds to hold her accountable.
Historically, Pia’s discretionary pork barrel has heavily flowed into Taguig City. Before 2013 when the Supreme Court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as unconstitutional, she was consistently recorded as one of the top spenders in the Senate.
Official records from the Department of Budget and Management show that she had utilized P258 million to P277 million of pork barrel.
A significant portion went to Taguig City infrastructure and local programs where sister in-law Lani Cayetano was the mayor.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson has alleged that in the 2025-2026 national budget, Pia secured a massive P4.7 billion budget insertions within the 2025 General Appropriations Act. Where did it go? The usual – Taguig City and the Laguna Lake region of the city.
But by crying in the Senate, what exactly does she want? Not to hold her accountable.
That cannot be.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
