Bypass? Trillanes to Enrile: Check your facts

Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday dismissed claims that he "bypassed" the former country's diplomat in China after conducting backchannel talks on the Scarborough Shoal dispute.

Earlier, former legislator Juan Ponce Enrile claimed Trillanes "bypassed" former Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady for working as backchannel negotiator in the territorial rift between China and Philippines.

"Why did I bypass Amb. Brady? Check your facts Mr. Enrile. Amb. Brady first went to Beijing in early August or late July when I was wrapping up the backchannel talks," Trillanes said on Twitter.

"She was never present at any backchannel meeting from May to July,"  Trillanes also wrote, in all caps.

Why did I bypass Amb. Brady? Check your facts Mr. Enrile. Amb. Brady first went to Beijing in early August or late July when I was wrapping up the backchannel talks. SHE WAS NEVER PRESENT AT ANY BACKCHANNEL MEETING FROM MAY TO JULY.

— Sonny Trillanes IV (@TrillanesSonny) May 17, 2021

In addition, Trillanes said he informed Brady about the talks on the 2012 standoff between the two Asian nations at Scarborough Shoal.

"Upon her arrival, at the first instance, I briefed her on the whole talks at the Ph Embassy with no Chinese present. That was the only time I met her. After that briefing, I concluded the backchannel talks," said Trillanes.

Nonetheless, Trillanes asked Enrile to check on media personnel covering foreign affairs for verification.

"Don't take my word for it. Our media friends assigned at DFA can check when she first arrived in Beijing, not when she was appointed as Amb," the senator said.

During this week's Talk to the Nation, Enrile questioned Trillanes' role as backroom negotiator in the territorial dispute during the Aquino administration. 

"We probably need to know where Trillanes' connections in Beijing came from. How did he get connections there, when even I, who had been a guest of Beijing, didn't have the kind of connections he had where he could approach the leaders of China," said Enrile, in Filipino.

Enrile also later on criticized Trillanes' move to allegedly bypass Brady as well as former Foreign Affairs Chief Albert del Rosario after conducting backdoor negotiations with China on the Scarborough Shoal standoff.

"Ang problema ko diyan bakit si Trillanes? Bakit binypass niya yung embahada natin sa Beijing? At sa impression ko, pati si del Rosario na kalihim ng foreign affairs noon ay binypass din nya. Walang kamuwang-muwang si del Rosario sa meeting na yun sa Beijing," said Enrile.

(Why choose Trillanes? He bypassed our embassy at Beijing. In my impression, he also bypassed del Rosario, who had no idea about the meetings in Beijing.)

Meanwhile, Trillanes took a swipe at Enrile, saying former President Ninoy Aquino III chose him because he was "trustworthy."

"Why did PNoy appoint me as backchannel negotiator? Because he found me trustworthy unlike Enrile," Trillanes wrote in another tweet.

He also advised the Duterte government to face problems on China's continued presence at Philippines' territorial claims in Spratlys Islands in the South China Sea.

"Wag nyo ibahin ang usapan, wala sa Scarborough ang problema. Nalutas na ni PNoy yun. Wala ng mga barko ng China sa loob nun. Wala ring reclamation dun. Nasa Spratlys ngayon ang problema na ayaw harapin ni Duterte," said Trillanes.

(Don't change the subject, Scarborough isn't the problem. President Aquino solved that. There are no more ships there. Spratlys is the problem, which Duterte already ignored.)

The Scarborough Shoal standoff started on April 8, 2012, when the Philippine Navy tried to confront Chinese ships at the shoal but were blocked by Chinese marine surveillance ships.

Trillanes, then a senator, conducted backdoor talks with China on the dispute in the months following the incident.

In June 2012, US Department brokered an agreement between the two Asian countries to pull out vessels simultaneously. Philippines followed America's call but China did not comply.—LDF, GMA News