Sagip party-list Representative and Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta’s speech was cut short after a lawmaker suddenly used her microphone to question the former’s statement.
During the House hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise on Monday, Marcoleta reminded his colleagues who supported ABS-CBN not to discredit the lawmakers against the Kapamilya network.
“Sana po iwasan ang ganoong pananalita. Mabuti sigurong galangin natin ang bawat isa kung paano ko ginagalang ang opinyon nila. Mag galangan po tayo sapagkat in the final analysis only the Supreme Court will have the final say in controversy of the constitutional issue that we are about to tackle today,” the lawmaker said.
Marcoleta also talked about the charitable activities conducted by the Kapamilya network.
Marcoleta believed that no one could remove the fact that ABS-CBN really helped many Filipinos during times of calamities, but he said that it’s better if the Kapamilya network would assist the needy while following the law at the same time.
“Wala pong aagaw sa inyo nito, ang inyong pagtulong ay mananatiling kasama po ng inyong kasaysayan hanggang saan man tayo makarating, hindi po ‘yun ang punto, ang punto po natin dito ay ang gagawin nating pagtulong sa mga kababayan sa lahat ng pagkakataon na kinakailangan din natin ilagay sa lugar,” Marcoleta said.
“Walang magandang pagtulong, walang magandang ibibigay sa ating bansa kung ang pagtulong ay gagawin natin sa pamamagitan sa paglabag sa ating mga batas,” he added.
Marcoleta’s speech was suddenly distracted after Castro called the attention of the committee on Good Government And Public Accountability Chairperson Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado.
While Alvarado reminded Castro that the floor still belonged to Marcoleta, the latter insisted to speak and told the chairperson that they didn’t know that Marcoleta was allowed to summarize the speeches of his colleagues.
“Mr. Chair… kasi sa agenda natin wala naman pong nakalagay dito na summarization nu’ng ginawa natin, ‘yun pong sinasabi ni Marcoleta, ni Congressman Marcoleta ay parang sa interpellation niya nalang po niya sabihin, kasi nabigyan na po natin siya ng pagkakataon last time,” Castro said.
Alvarado couldn’t do anything but to suspend the session for several minutes.
During the suspension of the session, it can be seen that Marcoleta and Castro spoke to each other.
When the session continues, Marcoleta finished his speech without interruption anymore.
Marcoleta has gone viral on the internet after he raised the alleged violations of ABS-CBN on May 26.
He mentioned the alleged tax evasion activities of the network and also questioned why ABS-CBN has thousands of contractual employees.
The lawmaker also mentioned the citizenship issue of ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio Lopez III.