WATCH: De Lima, Aguirre talk face to face on Senate floor

Camille Elemia

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

WATCH: De Lima, Aguirre talk face to face on Senate floor
Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, arch-enemy of Senator De Lima, is at the Senate to attend the discussions on the proposed 2017 budget of the Department of Justice

It was an awkward moment that ended up in laughter anyway.

Rivals Senator Leila de Lima and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II faced each other on the Senate floor on Thursday night, November 17, during the budget deliberations.

Aguirre was at the chamber to attend the discussions on the proposed 2017 budget of the Department of Justice.

Upon Aguirre’s arrival, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III asked De Lima to join him and other senators in meeting Aguirre.

A hesitant De Lima walked slowly but was prodded by her colleagues Minority Leader Ralph Recto and Senator Cynthia Villar to come near Aguirre. Villar even linked her arms with De Lima while walking to the small group.

De Lima was seen exchanging pleasantries and shaking hands with Aguirre, whom she had accused of fabricating evidence against her.

Also part of the discussion were Senator Loren Legarda and Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III.

The chat was marked by senators laughing about the apparent awkward situation.

De Lima returned to her seat still laughing, seemingly unable to grasp what just happened. Sotto was laughing so much as well that he could not immediately motion that the session be resumed.

Pimentel responded in jest: “It’s obvious we’re not yet ready so we’re not resuming.”

Si Senator De Lima eh,” said Sotto, jokingly blaming it on the lady senator.

Aguirre said he “appreciates” the gesture of De Lima, even as he denied the senator’s claims that the attacks against her are part of personal vendetta by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The gesture of Senator De Lima is appreciated. I hope that it will show that the DOJ’s quest for the truth and to serve justice is not a case of personal persecution as painted by some quarters,” Aguirre said in a statement.

De Lima and Aguirre have been locked in a word war following Aguirre’s accusations that De Lima has links to the illegal drug trade.

De Lima, for her part, slammed Aguirre for what she called fabrications, saying his supposed evidence against her is fake like the secretary’s wig. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Face, Person, Human

author

Camille Elemia

Camille Elemia is a former multimedia reporter for Rappler. She covered media and disinformation, the Senate, the Office of the President, and politics.