PHNO-HL: PALACE RUMOR ON SON'S LP SLATE 'UNFOUNDED', 'BASELESS' - JPE

PALACE RUMOR ON SON'S LP SLATE 'UNFOUNDED',
'BASELESS' - JPE
[PHOTO - SENATOR
JUAN PONCE-ENRILE]
MANILA, JULY 12, 2012 (TRIBUNE)
Written by Angie M. Rosales - Unfounded and baseless.

This was
the reaction of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile as he debunked reports
quoting an unnamed Palace source on his having asked President Aquino to draft
his son, Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile, in the administration's senatorial ticket for
next year's elections.

Apparently, someone from the Palace was sowing
intrigue to make it appear that the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) was
crumbling and make the LP senatorial slate look stronger.

Enrile
allegedly personally sought Aquino after attending a meeting alongside some
Cabinet members last week over the issue concerning the country's claims on
Scarborough Shoal.

"I never discuss politics with the President," he
said, adding that he never had a chance to talk personally to the Chief
Executive during the said event.

"I do not know where that story came
from. It was as much as a surprise to me as it probably was as much a surprise
to the President because we never talk politics. And if I talk politics, if at
all, (it's) not with the President, because the President is the titular head of
the Liberal Party (LP), but the president of the party, (Transportation
Secretary Manuel) Mar Roxas and Sen. Franklin Drilon. They are the ones dealing
with party matters," he explained.

In the Cabinet executive session, the
Senate chief said they discussed the special problem of the Scarborough area and
never talked about political matters.

"In fact, when I arrived at the
Palace, the President wasn't there. When he came, we started the Cabinet meeting
and when the meeting was over, I went to the restroom of the Palace behind the
Cabinet room and when I came back, the President was gone. So, I could not
possibly have talked to him about anything else because I did not see him, I
wasn't able to bid goodbye to him," he said.

Enrile narrated that the
only persons he saw when he emerged from the restroom were Interior and Local
Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.


"I was looking for the President, he was gone. When I did not see him in
the Cabinet room, I went home. I never saw the president. In fact, I was a
little bit sad because I was not able to say goodbye to him. He might think that
I was disrespectful but I knew that he was busy. He must have gone to his
presscon after his Cabinet meeting.

"When I read this story this morning,
I thought this was an unfounded and baseless story. Whoever concocted it
probably has something else in mind instead of informing the public about some
truths regarding political matters. There's no truth to this story," he
said.

Enrile said Aquino himself would also laugh at the issue because,
as he emphasized, he never had a chance to engage the Chief Executive on a
one-on-one talk even during the meeting as he was seated across the conference
room.

"I was directly in the opposite side and we had no time talk on
personal matters or any other matter other than the matter that was being
discussed by the Cabinet. And I was listening, I just give an opinion when I was
asked to put in my opinion during discussions of the issue under consideration.
I never spoke to him about the candidacy of anyone. That was not in the agenda
and I normally do not do that with anybody. Matters aside, I've been in politics
for more than, almost five decades and I have built up a constituency of my own
as much as other politicians in this country," he said.

Quoting an
anonymous Malacañang source, newspaper reports Monday said Enrile, who was
invited by Aquino to attend a Cabinet meeting on Scarborough Shoal issue last
July 5, sought a dialog with the President and asked that his son, Jack,, be
included as a guest LP candidate. The younger Enrile is listed in the UNA
senatorial ticket.

Enrile, was asked on the issue during the Kapihan sa
Diamond Hotel where he was the guest speaker, said he will not oppose the idea
of his son being adopted as a guest candidate of other political
parties.

"Jack wants to run for the Senate. He has been a member of the
House of Representatives for more than 10 years and he wants to aspire for a
higher responsibility," Enrile said.

"He's an adult. He's no longer my
dependent. He's 54 years old. So, he's ready to run under the umbrella of UNA,"
Enrile added. "As far as I'm concerned, if the Communist Party of the
Philippines would adopt my son as its candidate for the Senate, who am I to say
no?"

He said he would not object if the LP or the Nacionalista Party
would adopt his son as a guest senatorial candidate next year. "As I said,
addition is the name of the game in politics."

The elder Enrile noted
that Rep. Enrile was a member of the National People's Coalition (NPC), one of
the political parties the LP is currently holding talks for a possible coalition
next year.

The newspaper reports quoted the Malacañang source as saying
that Enrile personally asked the President if he or the administration party can
still accommodate the younger Enrile in the LP slate. The source, however, said
he had no idea whether Aquino was amenable to include the congressman in the LP
lineup.



Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved




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