Nagdulot ng takot at trauma para kay BHW party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co ang nangyaring komosyon sa pagitan nila nina AGRI party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee at Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo sa gitna ng deliberasyon ng budget ng DOH noong September 25.
Kwento niya sa House media, bago ang pang-aagaw ng mikropono kay Senior Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza, hindi na nakita sa camera, ngunit sinugod aniya sila ni Lee at dinuro pa.
Kung hindi aniya pagsasalitain si Lee ay nagbanta ito na manggugulo.
“…then when he approached furiously, dinuro-duro niya kami and then sinabihan niya kami na pag hindi niya ako pagsalitain, manggugulo ako. To which Cong. Stella, I heard her respond to Cong. Wilbert saying, bakit galit ka sa amin? Sponsor lang kami dito. Meaning to say, wala po kaming hold kung sino po ang magsasalita o hindi po magsasalita,” kwento ni Co.
Sa sobrang takot, nagtago pa aniya si Rep. Quimbo sa likod ng podium.
Hindi na rin aniya nakita na kapwa sila naluha.
“But more than that kasi pagkatapos niya kaming duruduruin, parang he was very, very near us already na natakot kami. In fact si Cong. Stella went around me and she ducked behind the podium…pati ako hindi ko sure kung tatakbo ba ako kasi he was very near us. Hindi ko alam kung paano aasultohin niya si Cong. Stella. And so we were very bothered, I was very bothered personally na ganoon ang nangyari at hindi ko alam saan nang galing yung galit niya sa amin,” saad pa niya.
Diin ni Co, mapababae, lalaki, matanda o bata, hindi dapat maramdaman o isipin na hindi sila ligtas sa kanilang lugar ng trabaho.
Kaya aniya titindigan niya ang ihahaing reklamo laban kay Lee sa House Committee on Ethics.
“…in a workplace, I don’t think anybody, not just women, I don’t think anybody should feel that they’re not safe in the workplace. So that’s why we are really very adamant, I am very adamant at filing in the Committee on Ethics,” diin ni Co.
“So while the speaker was speaking in front already, it was I think an hour after what happened, I was seated in the lounge and trying to calm myself down. Tumayo ako to listen to the speaker and then while he was speaking, ako po ay nahimatay. Siguro brought about by stress. It was the first time that it happened to me in the plenary…So it was a very distressful time,” sabi pa ng BHW partylist solon.
Maliban sa ethics complaint, inirekomenda ni Co na alisan ng pribilehiyo si Lee kasama ang foreign travel authority upang magsilbing aral.
“I want to have him suspended para po may leksyon at may aral para po sa lahat ng mga colleagues natin sa future na papasok po sa Congress at para po matuto hindi na mangyari ulit in the future. Kasi yung galit niya, we shouldn’t have earned that disrespect coming from him. I think that’s what I want to point out,” sabi ni Co.
Hiningan ng Radyo Pilipinas ng reaksyon ang tanggapan ni Rep. Lee ngunit sa ngayon ay wala pa rin itong tugon.| ulat ni Kathleen Forbes
