Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in a privilege speech Monday challenged Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Manuel Mamba to substantiate his allegation that tobacco companies have been bribing senators for many years to prevent the passing of a sin tax measure.
Enrile quoted from the article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer that appeared Sunday, which said: “Big lobby money is the reason why past administrations have not approved this measure for 15 years. There is big lobby money in it. Anyone who would not support this very popular measure had received lobby money or that he was bribed by the lobby groups of big multinationals.”
He questioned where Mamba got his information and whether he knew what he was talking about.
“I do not know if he (Mamba) knows what he’s talking about. There has been no measure like this such as what we have today,” Enrile said.
“Where did this man pretending to know taxation … got this information? Either he was fabricating fiction or totally ignorant,” Enrile said.
He further slammed unnamed person working in the executive branch who, he said, were pressuring the Senate.
“We have to tell these people who are dealing with us to be careful with what they are saying,” Enrile said. “We hope they do not dictate on us as we do not dictate on them.”