JULY 3 was a nasty day for the Senate.
The infighting that started on the first day of the 13th Senate last Jan. 14 became more pronounced and even indecent during last week’s session.
When Sen. David M. Cing lost his temper, he started to use every profane word that he could think of as he cussed at Senate President Paul A. Manglona for allegedly failing to recognize him and hear his concerns on a bill that was already passed and on some changes in the Senate Rules.
“The minute Senator Cing lost his temper, almost every sentence that he uttered was coupled with nasty words,” recalled Senate Floor Leader Joaquin G. Adriano, D-Tinian.
Could his colleagues forgive Cing, D-Tinian, for badmouthing their president?
At least three of them believe that he should learn some lessons on decorum and protocol.
To ensure that the incident would no longer occur in the future, Manglona said the Senate leadership will introduce a resolution enforcing the Senate rules on propriety of language and conduct and observing the formal code of etiquette during legislative sessions and meetings.
“There should be order and decorum during Senate sessions, so we have to look at the rules and make sure that decency is observed. If that is how (Cing) acts at home, I’m sorry to say this, but the Senate chamber is no place for that. If you don’t get what you want, then you have to accept democracy. We are the representatives of the people and everything we do reflects back on our constituents,” Manglona, R-Rota, said in an interview yesterday.
Adriano said the next time a similar incident happens in the chamber, the Senate president or he, as floor leader, will instruct the sergeant-at-arms to remove any Senate member who flares up and embarrasses his colleagues in the chamber. The senator said Cing was lucky enough for having a Senate president who was too compassionate to retaliate.
“I felt that at the time the president could have instructed the sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the chamber. He was saying all kinds of profane words and even took off his name plate and threw it at the president. We could even file a case against him for doing that. That constitutes a criminal offense. This guy is very unprofessional. Even if he raised his hands 50 times and was not recognized by the presiding officer he still had no reason to do that,” Adriano said.
Sen. Ramon S. Guerrero, American Reform-Saipan, agrees. He said elected politicians, especially senior members of the Legislature, “should know the rules.”
Cing, who was first elected in 1991, is the second most senior member of the Senate. Manglona was first elected in 1987 and is the Legislature’s longest serving member.
“What Senator Cing did was uncalled for,” Guerrero said. “The issue that he wanted to raise was already out of order because the bill on the $40 million land compensation had already been passed. His attitude was wrong. People look at you not only on what you say but on how you say it,” he said. But as far as Cing is concerned, it was just his way of expressing what he felt when Manglona allegedly ignored him after he raised his hand three times to air his concerns.
He also does not believe that he should be punished for the nasty things he said.
“Whether the statement is insulting or not, the moment the Senate president bangs the gavel, immunity is already on my side and on any member of the upper chamber who wants to exercise his freedom of expression,” Cing said.
