Two lady lawmakers on Monday filed an ethics complaint against Agri Party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee over threats he allegedly made during heated budget deliberations on September 25.
Representatives Stella Quimbo of Marikina and Nica Co of Barangay Health Workers Party-list called out Lee’s supposedly explosive behavior during the session, which was interpreted by colleagues as an attempted assault.
Quimbo recalled that Lee approached her, pointed his finger at her, and shouted in Filipino, “I will go wild if you do not let me speak.”
At that point, Quimbo, senior vice chair of the House appropriations committee, said Lee had already finished his turn to field questions, and the last House member fielding questions was House Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza.
“We are on the same side in our strong sense of duty, but I have never used fervor over duty as an excuse to be violent,” she stressed in Filipino.
The Marikina solon said the incident caused emotional distress to her and her fellow lady lawmaker, Co.
“From my perspective, his actions, particularly, his moving forward with his hand and eye movement — were an attempt to assault. My instinct was to duck behind the podium for my own safety. I felt physically threatened,” she added.
Quimbo stressed, “This should not happen to any woman, especially in the workplace. His actions were a clear form of intimidation, and this behavior is unacceptable.”
“This is also about unparliamentary behavior. There are many microphones available in the plenary. There are rules on how to go about raising a point of order. There are also rules on how many times a legislator is allowed to interpellate. This is how order is maintained on the floor. Any member of Congress is expected to know this,” Quimbo said in a mixture Filipino and English .
For his part, Lee insisted that he meant his fellow lawmakers no harm.
“The ethics complaint came to my attention. I respect the right of my fellow lawmakers as this is within the rights of legislators. However, let me clarify, it was never my intention to hurt or bully anyone,” he said in a statement on Monday.
The party-list lawmaker further said he had no intention to disrespect the institution and that his action was brought about by his burning desire to put on record the commitments he secured from the Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on lowering the out-of-pocket medical expenses of Filipinos.
Lee stated that he will explain his side once summoned by the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Rep. Wilbert Lee faces ethics complaint for ‘intimidation’.”
