Palace should have denied Trillanes role, says military analyst

There should have been no controversy had the Palace not acknowledged Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s unofficial role in the negotiations with China.

Retired Commodore Rex Robles, a military analyst, said Thursday that agents sent to back-channel talks were never acknowledged.

Whether the talks are a success or a failure, the backroom negotiator “is out of the picture,” Robles said.

Any commendation given in recognition of his work is usually burned. “Only the ashes of that burned sheet of paper is given to the negotiator,” Robles said.

Robles said he was surprised when Malacañang confirmed Trillanes’ claim that he was the government’s backroom negotiator in the West Philippine Sea dispute.

Amateurish

“President Aquino should have denied it outright,” Robles said, adding that Malacañang’s handling of the disclosure was “amateurish.”

Trillanes’ disclosure and his behavior in the Senate on Wednesday also disappointed his political patron, former President Joseph Estrada.

Estrada said Thursday that he regretted supporting Trillanes’ candidacy in 2007.

“He has become a swellhead,” Estrada said in phone interview with reporters. “It’s good his head still fits in an elevator.”

Estrada said supporting Trillanes was one of his biggest mistakes. “I really regret supporting him,” he said.