Tulfo says ‘irresponsible’ to label minority bloc involved with Senate chaos

On Wednesday, Sen. Erwin Tulfo denounced as "irresponsible" and it was suggested that the minority bloc was involved in the chaos that went down at the Senate last week.

In his speech, Tulfo described the incident as “deeply alarming" and pointed out that there were multiple versions of the events that happened on the evening of May 13. 

Some questioned why minority senators weren't present that evening, but he clarified that they had already left the Senate grounds after learning that the majority bloc would be the only ones allowed to attend the May 13 caucus.

"To suggest that the mere fact that some senators were responsible for what later transpired just because they had already left the premises is speculative, irresponsible and unsupported by evidence," Tulfo declared.

Tulfo said that he left the Senate on May 13 at 6 p.m. for a meeting, and that a member of his staff called him to report the gunshot incident at the chamber while he was eating dinner with his family.

Tulfo addressed that the regular workers, such as maintenance personnel, security clerks, and the media, had been "caught in the middle of the chaos" simply to carry out their tasks on that particular day.

"No camp wins when public confidence in institutions is weakened. The Senate is not a venue for armed confrontation or competing display of forces, or political theater," he said.

In Sen. Risa Hontiveros' privilege speech, she expressed shock at the seeming indifference to the terror that happened on May 13 saying the Senate has “sustained a profound injury to its dignity, credibility, and moral authority before the Filipino people.”

"We cannot act as though nothing happened last week. We know what is right and wrong. We know when enough is enough. And this is what our country needs from us now: for the Senate, in this difficult hour, to reflect the best of our people," she said.