Senator Nancy Binay may have voted to oust Senator Leila de Lima as chairperson of the committee on justice and human rights. But this does not necessarily mean she’s all out against her.

In fact, Binay said she “sympathizes” with the embattled senator, whose number 1 political enemy is no less than President Rodrigo Duterte.

Binay said she knows how it feels to be under attack. She claimed she would not want anyone – not even De Lima, who investigated her family for plunder – to go through the same experience.

De Lima is a member of the former ruling Liberal Party of former presidential candidate Mar Roxas, the former vice president’s political nemesis. The Binay family had accused Roxas of instigating the allegations against them.

“Syempre sympathetic and sana yung pinagdaanan namin di na pagdaanan ng ibang tao, including her,” Binay told reporters on Tuesday, September 27.

(Of course, I am sympathetic and I hope other people won’t have to go through what we went through, including her.)

A day after voting against De Lima, Binay said she approached the former justice chief right after she (De Lima) delivered a privilege speech after her ouster.

What did one embattled senator tell another beleaguered colleague? “Sinabihan ko siya na lilipas din yan, based on our experience di ba?” Binay said. (I told her it, too, shall pass. Based on our experience right?)

Senator Binay earlier said their family would not have been politically persecuted in the Senate, if only they had the alliances that President Duterte enjoys now. (READ: Binay feels ‘vindicated’ after Cayetano hits ‘bias’ in Senate probe)

Binay said some attacks against her colleague are already “below the belt” such as the alleged sex video. It’s none of anyone’s business, she said, who De Lima’s partner is.

“Yung iba below the belt. Ano ba pakialam natin sa love life nya? (The other allegations are already below the belt. What do we care about her love life?)” Binay said. 

Former vice president Jejomar Binay and his family were subjects of a year-long Senate probe into the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall building, which snowballed into other corruption accusations.

The congressional inquiry was widely believed to have damaged the chances of the former vice president, who had already declared his intention to run for higher office by then. – Rappler.com