Brady not present in backchannel talks — Trillanes

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday clarified that former Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady was "never present" in his backchannel negotiations with Chinese authorities regarding the dispute over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, although he admitted having a one-time meeting with Brady in Beijing last month.   In a statement, Trillanes said Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile "wrongly assumed" that Brady took down the now famous Brady Notes while he was meeting with Chinese officials.    "For the record, she [Brady] was never present in any of the backchannel talks conducted," he said.   Enrile bared the Brady Notes — where Trillanes allegedly undermined the Philippines’ interest in West Philippine Sea — during an argument with Trillanes at the session hall last week.   In his statement Monday, Trillanes said only Philippine Consul Evangeline Ong Jimenez-Ducrocq and a member of his staff were present during his meeting with Brady, which he said occurred on August 17, 2012, at the Philippine Embassy in Beijing. Brady Notes   "So, if those Brady Notes indeed exist, this is where she or Consul Jimenez-Ducrocq probably wrote it," he said without mentioning the supposed contents of the notes.   Trillanes said the August 17 meeting was "the first and only official meeting I had with Ambassador Brady in Beijing.” He said he arranged the meeting "to brief [Brady] about the background and status of the backchannel talks since she just reported at the embassy sometime in early August."   "I absolutely don’t see anything wrong about conducting a briefing and coordinating with Ambassador Brady," said Trillanes, a former Navy officer who was once jailed for participating in attempts to overthrow the government.   Enrile last week said the notes quoted Trillanes as saying that the Philippines was not interested in Panatag Shoal, among others. State secrets   Trillanes, on Monday, said Enrile was guilty of exposing state secrets.   “JPE (Enrile’s initials) brazenly exposed state secrets just to spite me and it eventually blew up on his face. Lastly, he unwittingly pointed to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) as the only possible source of those classified documents,” he said.   Enrile, however, had earlier said that there were no state secrets in the notes. He also said making public the contents of Brady’s notes would not affect the country's position in the West Philippine Sea dispute. Miriam: Bare source of Brady Notes