Enrile still mulls quitting post, says chief aide

Jessica “Gigi” Reyes and Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile.

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile has been considering resigning “irrevocably” even after his motion to declare his post vacant was defeated last Monday, his chief of staff said Friday.

Attorney Jessica “Gigi” Reyes, who tendered her irrevocable resignation Wednesday night, admitted that she herself was convincing the Senate leader to do the same.

She said her resignation, after she was dragged into the controversy over Senate funds, was also due to “an honest difference of opinion” with Enrile on how to respond to the “mad and baseless accusations of public funds misuse.”

On Wednesday, Reyes said she submitted to Enrile a detailed response to the allegation that more than P500 million of the Senate’s budget was under the sole disposition of the Senate President and the insinuation that he was misusing or benefitting from such funds.

“I asked him to consider it as a privilege speech after Senator Cayetano’s speech,” she said, referring to Senate Minority Alan Peter Cayetano.

“The Senate President did not agree to deliver the speech understandably concerned that with the prevailing howl over the media, the Senate and his colleagues may be unduly placed in a bad light, in particular with respect to the budgets of the oversight committees that are locally funded by the Senate,” she said.

The draft speech, she said, also contained details of the “delicate balancing act we have had to do to accommodate many of the senator’s requests — extra office space, hiring or promotion of their recommendees, detail of Senate personnel and requests for additional travel funds.”

“But the Senate President did not want to embarrass his colleagues,” Reyes said.

“The draft speech I prepared also contained a statement towards the end that he was resigning irrevocably as Senate President, something that he had been contemplating since Monday when his motion to declare the position of Senate President was defeated,” she said.

Enrile’s motion last Monday to declare his seat vacant was voted against by 11 senators.

“Perhaps, if Senator Cayetano stuck to the real issue, Senator Trillanes would be really happy by now as he would not have to sweat it out just to unseat the President,” said Reyes, referring to Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, who openly expressed his desire to oust Enrile.

Reyes herself said she wanted Enrile to step down for several reasons.

First, because she said it saddened her that only a handful of Enrile’s allies in the majority bloc have spoken up on the alleged misuse of funds when the Senate leader gave senators P2.2 million each in November and December last year.

“I had expected the other senators not so much to defend their own leader but to clarify, explain and defend their own honor and the honor of the Senate,” Reyes said.

Second reason, she said, was that because even Senate Secretary Emma Lirio Reyes was “hesitant to set the record straight and confront the issue” when he refused to include the name of Cayetano in a statement that Enrile had asked to prepare detailing the Senate’s budget.

Reyes said the Senate secretary’s refusal to mention Cayetano’s name in the statement might be perceived that she was defending Enrile.

And the third reason was Trillanes’ statement in a television interview that Enrile should be removed from his post right away as he might use the Senate funds for the campaign of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Enrile is one of the officials of UNA.

“As all of these percolated in my mind, I thought that there was no point for the Senate President to continue to stick his neck out, defending himself and his colleagues while the other except for very few would rather just watch,” Reyes said.

“We had not been deluded by the so-called vote of confidence he gained when his motion was voted down, with 16 senators in attendance. It was not a moro-moro. He was ready to step down and so he manifested that he will reiterate his motion when the others, specially his detractors were present,” Enrile’s aide added.