Senator Teofisto Guingona III (right), chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, listens as subcommittee members Senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Aquilino Pimentel III, and Alan Peter Cayetano discuss the measures to be taken after Vice President Jejomar Binay did not show up at the Senate probe on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II on Thursday, November 6. Binay is in Cebu for several meetings. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Businessman Antonio Tiu on Wednesday said his legal team is now studying the possibility of filing charges against Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, over what the former claimed as defamatory words thrown by the lawmaker against him in the recent hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee.
“Pinag-aaralan po ng ating mga abogado kung ano ang dapat gawin upang i-protekta ang interes ng aking kumpanya at ang aking pagkatao. So malalaman po natin sa darating na mga araw,” Tiu said at a press conference in Quezon City when asked if he was planning to file charges against Cayetano.
At the same time, Tiu criticized Cayetano for allegedly making fun of the serious issue of kidnapping just to force him to waive bank secrecy and let the Senate scrutinize his bank accounts.
“Hindi na nakontento si Senator Cayetano na maliitin ang pagkatao ko, nilagay niya pa sa panganib ang pamilya ko at ang buhay ko sa kanyang pagpilit saakin na isiwalat ang pera ko sa bangko. Sabi niya, hindi naman mapanganib na gawin ko ito dahil pwede naman akong makipagtawaran sa mga kidnapper kung sakaling kidnappin ako o sino mang miyembro ng aking pamilya,” Tiu, who broke into tears, said.
“Tama po ba na sa kagustuhan ninyong ipahiya ako ay ginawa ninyong katatawanan ang issue ng kidnapping, lalo na para sa amin sa Chinese-Filipino community na araw-araw humaharap sa panganib na ito,” he added.
During last week’s hearing, Cayetano challenged Tiu to open his bank accounts.
When Tiu said that doing so would put him or his family “under the risk of being kidnapped,” Cayetano replied as shown in the video presented by the businessman in his press conference: “May mga na-kikidnap, sinasabihan within 30-40 days magbayad ka ng P5 million, so yung iba na may listed shares binebenta nila yung shares nila. Yun ay kung may bibili ng shares mo.”
“Labintatlong oras ako ginisa sa Senado na parang isang kriminal. Napakawalang hiya at walang damdamin na ang issue regarding kidnapping ay ginagawa pang katawa tawa,” Tiu said.
Tiu had earlier filed a P4-million defamation case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, another member of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, who has been openly criticizing the businessman and has been vocal that he is convinced that Tiu is just a dummy of Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Tiu is the owner of Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corp., which supposedly has real and enforceable rights over the 145-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas being alleged to be among Binay’s property.
In previous hearing, Tiu maintained that he bought the property from Laureano Gregorio, but some senators suspect that Tiu and his company are just acting as dummies of Binay. Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernosto Mercado had testified that the Binay family really owns the 350-hectare Batangas property.
The Vice President has since denied Mercado’s allegations. (MNS)