PHNO-HL: MIRIAM: NEW SENATE MAJORITY WAITING FOR SIGNAL TO OUST ENRILE


MIRIAM: NEW SENATE MAJORITY WAITING FOR SIGNAL TO OUST
ENRILE
[PHOTO -Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile]
MANILA, OCTOBER 22, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Cathy Yamsuan - While
calling herself a "complete pariah" when it came to power plays in the Senate,
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago nevertheless hinted that a new majority in the
upper chamber could just be waiting for a signal before it ousts Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile.
"Sa tingin ko, may inaantay lang sila (The way I see it, they are just
waiting for something).
"Wait for it," she added in a radio interview.
Santiago said it was likely that Enrile would be replaced for his
noncooperative stand on two administration measures—the reproductive health (RH)
bill and the measure raising sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol products.
Enrile is staunchly against the RH bill. He also expressed concern over
possible adverse effects of raising taxes on tobacco on farmers from northern
Luzon where it is a principal crop.
"We cannot say exactly what goes on inside the mind of President Aquino but
if the Senate President does not give his support to (administration) measures,
the President might consider looking for someone who would be more supportive,"
Santiago said in Filipino.
Santiago said politicians tended to accommodate a sitting President.
"That is the tendency, to always agree with the President even if they do not
necessarily join his party," she said.
Santiago, however, clarified that she was not being asked to join a new
majority, in case one was being formed clandestinely at this point.

[PHOTO - THE VICIOUS SKIRMISH BETWEEN ENRILE AND TRILLANES
CONTINEOUS]
"I am not getting any calls. I'm a complete pariah when it comes to (Senate)
reorganizations. My colleagues know I don't care about intrigues," she said.

But asked if noncooperation with regard to the two urgent bills could cost
Enrile his coveted seat, Santiago said: "Oh, definitely. His time horizon will
definitely grow shorter if the two bills are not passed."
Santiago added that Enrile could not rely on his popularity rating as a
deterrent against any effort to replace him since President Aquino, who might
support efforts to remove him, is more popular based on the same surveys.
Santiago also dismissed repeated pronouncements made by Malacañang that the
executive branch is not involved in any effort to replace Enrile.
"Well, they cannot announce 'we are replacing him' so they have to keep
saying those clichés. Remember that Malacañang keeps score of how cooperative
senators are. All administrations are like that," she said.
"Assuming for the sake of argument that the Senate President is really as
popular as the press releases say, in any event, there is no question President
Aquino is much more popular. If (Enrile) contradicts the President, his
popularity could go even lower than at present," Santiago said.
She reminded Enrile that "all Senate Presidents hold their positions…at the
discretion of their fellow senators and of the President who is in power at the
time. They do not have permanent security of tenure."
Rumors of a move to oust Enrile have been floating around since December
2011. At the time, Sen. Franklin Drilon of the Liberal Party was being touted as
his replacement.
Drilon has consistently denied these reports.
Only Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV of the Nacionalista Party has admitted working
for Enrile's ouster.
EARLIER REPORT
Enrile, Trillanes resume word war By Cathy Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer 1:05 am | Monday, October 8th, 2012

Just when everyone thought the smoke had cleared, Senate President Juan Ponce
Enrile and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV have gone at it again.
This time, Enrile said he would bare the truth about Trillanes during next
year's campaign—a move the Senate President believes would cost his young
colleague his reelection bid.
Trillanes, in turn, dared the chamber's oldest member to attend a seminar on
public policy he was willing to conduct after Enrile accused him of copying an
old bill on the country's baselines territory that Enrile had authored.
The word war that began three weeks ago was apparently rekindled by rumors
that Trillanes was behind a white paper that was circulated last week listing
Senate reporters allegedly on the take from Enrile.
Hard copies of the list were left in the Senate press office.
Trillanes denied any hand in the anonymously penned charge sheet in a phone
conversation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer Thursday.
"I did not do that," he said, after learning that he was the prime suspect
behind the paper.
Trillanes also called other Senate reporters to deny that he was behind the
white paper.
His name came up after reporters noticed that the white paper included the
names of Malacañang reporters whose questions to Palace spokesperson Edwin
Lacierda last month about the senator's involvement in back channel talks with
China were believed to have displeased Trillanes.
Enrile initially refused to discuss Trillanes in a radio interview Sunday
when he was asked to comment about the younger senator's role as a back-channel
negotiator at the height of tensions over the presence of Chinese vessels at
Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in April.
"I don't want to discuss that guy. He does not amount to anything to me,"
Enrile said.
But then he suddenly added: "I will discuss him during the campaign. I will
test his capacity before the people. That is the better forum."
Enrile said he would leave it to the varied Senate committees to examine
Trillanes' back-channeling efforts that he had questioned in an impromptu Senate
speech in mid-September.

The 'Brady notes'

Enrile then produced a sheaf of papers now referred to as the "Brady notes,"
said to be written by Philippine ambassador to China Sonia Brady about
Trillanes' activities and statements as an unofficial negotiator.
This after Trillanes delivered a speech decrying Enrile's involvement in the
supposed railroading of the bill creating a new province from Camarines Sur.

The Senate President in turn questioned Trillanes' contacts and wondered
whether the senator served the Philippines' interests during his 15 discussions
with his Chinese counterparts.
In the radio interview, Enrile said he would rather deal with Trillanes
"outside the Senate so he could not say anything" about the Senate President
taking advantage of his position in the chamber.
And then Enrile said: "He will lose votes. Take a look at his votes come
election time from the sectors that he is confident will support him."
Enrile let out a chuckle when asked whether he believed Trillanes was behind
the white paper listing alleged beneficiaries of his payola.
"My God! Who would do something like that? Imagine saying (the names of two
radio anchors) or even the others taking money from me? Maybe he's the one who
pays off journalists," the Senate President said.
When pressed, Enrile stated: "Wait for the campaign. I will bare [the truth
about] him before the people."
The on-air discussion about Trillanes started innocently enough with a
question on whether the young senator would be removed from the Senate Electoral
Tribunal following his decision to leave the majority bloc as a result of his
fight with Enrile.
Won't retaliate

The Senate President told dzBB anchor Nimfa Ravelo said he was not the type
to retaliate, but added that Trillanes would not have been able to pass a bill
without help in the chamber.
On Trillanes' supposed claim that he authored the Philippine Archipelagic
Baselines Law or Republic Act No. 9522, Enrile said the younger senator merely
patterned his bill on an earlier draft that former Solicitor General Estelito
Mendoza put together for Enrile sometime back.
"I made the Baseline Law," Enrile said.
Told that Trillanes' staff sent an e-mail to reporters saying that the
senator had authored RA 9522, Enrile said: "Who is this guy? Why don't you look
at the records? The one who drafted the baselines law that I sponsored was
Titong Mendoza, not Trillanes. Maybe his version was junked. This guy is
presumptuous."
Trillanes later sent out a text message responding to Enrile's charge on the
baselines law.
"Just to educate Senator Enrile, in public policy making, there is no such
thing as copying since best practices are supposed to be emulated," he said.

"You don't always reinvent the wheel. For example, if Singapore managed to
curb corruption in a certain way, it would be wise for us to imitate them,"
Trillanes said.
It would then be "commonplace," he said, to see legislators in both the
Senate and the House of Representatives refiling the same bills "that reflect
their advocacies and could solve socioeconomic-political problems."
"If Senator Enrile does not know this yet, I'm willing to conduct a seminar
for him. Otherwise, he could file an ethics case against me and expose his
ignorance to the whole world," Trillanes said.


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




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