Enrile dares Miriam to bring him to court, Ombudsman over Senate funds

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Sunday said that if Sen. Miriam Santiago thinks he did something wrong, then she should hale him into court—even the International Criminal Court, of which she is a judge, he said. “Kung inaakala niya ako nagkasala ng batas, magaling siyang abogado, nag-inquest daw siya, at magiging commissioner ng International Criminal Court, dalhin ako sa ICC kung inaakala niya ako may kasalanan o kaya sa Ombudsman,” he said in an interview on dzBB radio. Santiago had questioned Enrile’s disbursement of Senate funds of P1.6 million to each senator except for himself, Antonio Trillanes IV, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano and Santiago before the Christmas break. According to Enrile, the Senate budget office had informed him that for year-end 2012, the available budget for each senator for additional Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) was P2.218 million. He said that he gave all the senators the first tranche of P600,000 in November. He also said that the balance was divided into two more tranches of P1.3 million and P318,000, and that he approved the release of these tranches before the holiday break, except for himself and the four aforementioned senators. Enrile had given as his reason for not giving the four senators a similar amount was that Trillanes and the Cayetanos are in the minority bloc, while Santiago’s status in the majority bloc was “questionable” and that she had been attacking him. During the radio interview, Enrile also said that Santiago was bringing the other senators into their feud, and challenged her to disclose the financial status of her committees. “[K]ung inaakala niya magnanakaw kaming lahat, ipakita niya ano ang estado ng kanyang committee, ng kanyang pondo. At kung makitang talagang malinis siya kaming lahat susunod,” he said. Santiago to file bill In a separate interview also on dzBB, Santiago said she plans to file a bill that would compel all government officials, from the President down, to bare their finances on the Internet. “Lahat na kinikita hindi lang sweldo, lahat na kinikita ng senador na galing sa Senado dapat ilathala sa Internet para kung sinuman gusto malaman magkano kinikita ng senador o congressman, presidente, vice president, Cabinet member, justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, ang matataas na opisyales ng gobyerno, dapat malaman ng publiko sa pamamagitan ng Internet kung ano talaga [ang kita] nila nang sa ganoon wala nang turuan pa,” she said. Santiago also insisted she is a member of the majority because she is “technically” a member of the Liberal Party coalition. She ran for senator in 2010 under her People’s Reform Party but also as a guest candidate of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.’s Nacionalista Party. The NP is now in a coalition with the LP in the senatorial race. — BM, GMA News