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Enrile hits back at Miriam, accuses her of spreading 'outright lies'
By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News
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(Updated 5:55 p.m., Nov. 28, 2013) Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to lash back at his "obsessive hater" in the Senate whom he said was spreading "bold-faced" lies against him, including his supposed capability to kill alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
“I never murdered anyone in my almost 90 years on earth. For someone to say that I killed someone deliberately... is the grandmama of all falsehood fabricators,” Enrile said in a privilege speech.
Although he did not mention a name, Enrile was obviously referring to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago when he said that his hater has accused him of being murderous, bringing armed men to the Senate, and engineering the pork barrel scam.
In an e-mail to reporters, Santiago's office said the senator will counter Enrile's statements in a privilege speech next Wednesday.
In a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing earlier this month, Santiago urged Napoles to spill the beans on the alleged pork barrel scam, saying Enrile could have her killed.
“Kung si Enrile ang most guilty, sabihin mo na para hindi ka ipapatay. Wag mo i-underestimate si Enrile. May asim pa si Tanda,” she said during the nationally televised hearing.
Enrile, in response, said Santiago's accusations during the Senate probe were only “hallucinated imaginings” from her “bitterly hostile mind.”
Using strong words, Enrile dismissed Santiago's allegation that he engineered the alleged pork barrel anomaly as “an outright lie.”
“Only an inane and bitterly hostile mind could fabricate such a canard... This is just another of those baseless fabrications against me from a depraved mind,” he said.
He also dared Santiago to act as a special prosecutor against him, but came short of answering in detail accusations that he pocketed millions of pesos from the alleged anomaly.
“There will be a time and a more appropriate forum to deal in detail with the alleged PDAF scam,” Enrile said.
Enrile, along with Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., is facing plunder raps before the Office of the Ombudsman for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
Citing a memo from the Office of the Ombudsman, a report published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last week said Enrile was “directing the compass and the tempo” of the alleged scam. Enrile denied this accusation and even demanded an apology from the broadsheet.
Denied confirmation
Enrile cited two events that may explain Santiago's "deep-seated animosity against me"—when Enrile opposed Santiago's appointment as agrarian reform secretary, and when he refused to invite her to the majority bloc in 2008 and 2010.
During the deliberations for Santiago's appointment, Enrile said, he questioned Santiago's mental health, as well as her 76 percent passing grade in the Bar Examinations.
Enrile, who was in the top 11 when he took the exams, even mentioned Santiago's 56 percent grade in Ethics, supposedly the easiest in the bar exams.
Also questioned during the deliberation is a Toyota sports car Santiago supposedly drove around when she was a Quezon city judge. Toots Trinidad, a former Philippine National Bank president, owned the car, which was shipped to the Port of Manila after Trinidad's operation in the US, Enrile said.
The car disappeared from the parking lot of the Bureau of Customs, Enrile added.
Santiago supposedly claimed it was given to her by her husband, Narciso Yap Santiago, who was then working in the customs bureau, Enrile said.
Majority
Enrile had also twice denied Santiag's inclusion in the Senate majority in 2008 and 2010, the former senate president said.
Enrile said it was Santiago who refused to talk with him despite his attempts.
"When I became Senate President in November 2008, she did not vote for me. I tried to reach her before I was voted as Senate President. She refused to answer my phone calls. She even denied my request for just five minutes to see her at her residence," Enrile said.
"After the election in 2010, I was re-elected Senate President. I did not make an effort to reach out to her to get her support, but it was then Senator Manuel Villar who interceded for her. At that point, she was already allied with the Nacionalista Party of Senator Villar," he added.
Enrile only took Santiago in the majority when she supposedly apologized to the then senate president, he said.
Having been assigned the committees on constitutional amendments and revision of laws, Santiago supposedly wanted to retain her former committees, foreign affairs and energy, both of which require a huge budget, Enrile said.
"Obviously, she wanted a large pile of money at her disposal." Enrile said.
Enrile eventually approved her request for an oversight committee with a separate budget "specially created" for Santiago to support her staff.
"Evidently, all those things that I did for her were not enough to assuage her deep-seated and bitter hostility against me for what happened in the past, especially in her confirmation hearing as Secretary of Agrarian Reform," Enrile added.
No armed bodyguards
Enrile also denied Santiago's claim that he is often escorted by armed bodyguards at the Senate, even inside restrooms.
"I do not think I suffer from any kind of schizophrenic or psychotic paranoia to be that paranoid to need someone with a firearm to visit a restroom, especially in this Senate," Enrile said.
He also questioned how Santiago was able to know what he does inside the men's room.
"We have a 'peeping Tom' in this Senate. I never knew that someone was keeping an eye on me, even when I go to the most private of places here in this building," Enrile said.
The opposition leader also criticized Santiago for using "pick-up" lines to supposedly fool the public.
"Ang mas masaklap pa po dito ay kung anuman ang mga salitang kanyang binitiwan ay kinakagat ng ilang mga peryodista nang ganon-ganon na lamang, Sinasakyan ang kanyang mga paratang para lamang tuluyan akong idiin dito sa isyu ng PDAF," Enrile lamented during his speech.
During one of the lighter moments in his speech, Enrile also commented on Santiago's earlier remark about his virility.
"Sinabi ng senadora sa Blue Ribbon hearing na ako daw ay may asim pa. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanya. Ngunit ikinalulungkot kong sabihin, at kahit masakit man banggitin, hindi po ako naa-asiman sa kanya!" Enrile quipped. — KBK/BM, GMA News
“I never murdered anyone in my almost 90 years on earth. For someone to say that I killed someone deliberately... is the grandmama of all falsehood fabricators,” Enrile said in a privilege speech.
Although he did not mention a name, Enrile was obviously referring to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago when he said that his hater has accused him of being murderous, bringing armed men to the Senate, and engineering the pork barrel scam.
In an e-mail to reporters, Santiago's office said the senator will counter Enrile's statements in a privilege speech next Wednesday.
In a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing earlier this month, Santiago urged Napoles to spill the beans on the alleged pork barrel scam, saying Enrile could have her killed.
“Kung si Enrile ang most guilty, sabihin mo na para hindi ka ipapatay. Wag mo i-underestimate si Enrile. May asim pa si Tanda,” she said during the nationally televised hearing.
Enrile, in response, said Santiago's accusations during the Senate probe were only “hallucinated imaginings” from her “bitterly hostile mind.”
Using strong words, Enrile dismissed Santiago's allegation that he engineered the alleged pork barrel anomaly as “an outright lie.”
“Only an inane and bitterly hostile mind could fabricate such a canard... This is just another of those baseless fabrications against me from a depraved mind,” he said.
He also dared Santiago to act as a special prosecutor against him, but came short of answering in detail accusations that he pocketed millions of pesos from the alleged anomaly.
“There will be a time and a more appropriate forum to deal in detail with the alleged PDAF scam,” Enrile said.
Enrile, along with Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., is facing plunder raps before the Office of the Ombudsman for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
Citing a memo from the Office of the Ombudsman, a report published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last week said Enrile was “directing the compass and the tempo” of the alleged scam. Enrile denied this accusation and even demanded an apology from the broadsheet.
Denied confirmation
Enrile cited two events that may explain Santiago's "deep-seated animosity against me"—when Enrile opposed Santiago's appointment as agrarian reform secretary, and when he refused to invite her to the majority bloc in 2008 and 2010.
During the deliberations for Santiago's appointment, Enrile said, he questioned Santiago's mental health, as well as her 76 percent passing grade in the Bar Examinations.
Enrile, who was in the top 11 when he took the exams, even mentioned Santiago's 56 percent grade in Ethics, supposedly the easiest in the bar exams.
Also questioned during the deliberation is a Toyota sports car Santiago supposedly drove around when she was a Quezon city judge. Toots Trinidad, a former Philippine National Bank president, owned the car, which was shipped to the Port of Manila after Trinidad's operation in the US, Enrile said.
The car disappeared from the parking lot of the Bureau of Customs, Enrile added.
Santiago supposedly claimed it was given to her by her husband, Narciso Yap Santiago, who was then working in the customs bureau, Enrile said.
Majority
Enrile had also twice denied Santiag's inclusion in the Senate majority in 2008 and 2010, the former senate president said.
Enrile said it was Santiago who refused to talk with him despite his attempts.
"When I became Senate President in November 2008, she did not vote for me. I tried to reach her before I was voted as Senate President. She refused to answer my phone calls. She even denied my request for just five minutes to see her at her residence," Enrile said.
"After the election in 2010, I was re-elected Senate President. I did not make an effort to reach out to her to get her support, but it was then Senator Manuel Villar who interceded for her. At that point, she was already allied with the Nacionalista Party of Senator Villar," he added.
Enrile only took Santiago in the majority when she supposedly apologized to the then senate president, he said.
Having been assigned the committees on constitutional amendments and revision of laws, Santiago supposedly wanted to retain her former committees, foreign affairs and energy, both of which require a huge budget, Enrile said.
"Obviously, she wanted a large pile of money at her disposal." Enrile said.
Enrile eventually approved her request for an oversight committee with a separate budget "specially created" for Santiago to support her staff.
"Evidently, all those things that I did for her were not enough to assuage her deep-seated and bitter hostility against me for what happened in the past, especially in her confirmation hearing as Secretary of Agrarian Reform," Enrile added.
No armed bodyguards
Enrile also denied Santiago's claim that he is often escorted by armed bodyguards at the Senate, even inside restrooms.
"I do not think I suffer from any kind of schizophrenic or psychotic paranoia to be that paranoid to need someone with a firearm to visit a restroom, especially in this Senate," Enrile said.
He also questioned how Santiago was able to know what he does inside the men's room.
"We have a 'peeping Tom' in this Senate. I never knew that someone was keeping an eye on me, even when I go to the most private of places here in this building," Enrile said.
The opposition leader also criticized Santiago for using "pick-up" lines to supposedly fool the public.
"Ang mas masaklap pa po dito ay kung anuman ang mga salitang kanyang binitiwan ay kinakagat ng ilang mga peryodista nang ganon-ganon na lamang, Sinasakyan ang kanyang mga paratang para lamang tuluyan akong idiin dito sa isyu ng PDAF," Enrile lamented during his speech.
During one of the lighter moments in his speech, Enrile also commented on Santiago's earlier remark about his virility.
"Sinabi ng senadora sa Blue Ribbon hearing na ako daw ay may asim pa. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanya. Ngunit ikinalulungkot kong sabihin, at kahit masakit man banggitin, hindi po ako naa-asiman sa kanya!" Enrile quipped. — KBK/BM, GMA News
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