Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile confirmed that he has recalled some of the employees assigned to two of his known political foes in the Senate because their assignments have already expired.
Enrile said he directed the Office of the Senate Secretary as early as December 6, 2012 to send these “high-salaried personnel” from the offices of Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV back to their mother units.
The order, he said, took effect on January 15, 2013.
“It is true that some Senate Secretariat employees who have been detailed to the offices of these two senators were recalled to their mother units effective 15 January 2013,” Enrile said in a statement on Wednesday.
“However, I would like to point out that I gave such instruction to the Office of the Senate Secretary to recall these employees as early as December 6, 2012.”
“The assignment for their detail had actually expired already and it was only proper that these high-salaried personnel should be sent back to and be utilized by their respective mother units,” he added.
Enrile said the two employees detailed to Cayetano’s office are from the Blue Ribbon Office (BROOM) while the two employees detailed to Trillanes’ office are from the Senate Economic Planning Office and the Office of the Senate Secretary.
“I should also point out that even when employees detailed to their offices have been recalled, there are still two Senate Secretariat employees who have remained assigned to the Office of Senator Alan Cayetano, and one Secretariat employee still detailed to the Office of Senator Trillanes,” he pointed out.
It was Cayetano, who reportedly questioned the recall of his employees allegedly without any explanation from the Senate.