Enrile chief aide cries foul over ‘malicious’ insinuations

CALLING IT QUITS Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s chief of staff, lawyer Gigi Reyes (inset), tenders her resignation after the controversy romantically linking her to the Senate President. But Enrile says he will urge her to stay. RICHARD REYES

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile’s chief of staff cried foul on Friday over “malicious” insinuations romantically linking her with the Senate leader.

In a statement issued Friday, Attorney Jessica “Gigi” Reyes appealed to the public to spare her family and Enrile’s from the “hurt brought about by malicious insinuations and imputations regarding my personal relationship with the Senate President.”

“It may be wishful thinking but I still wish that the Senate President’s family and my own family could be spared from the hurt brought about by malicious insinuations and imputations regarding my personal relatihsip with the Senate President–just to whet and feed the public’s appetite for gossip, to gain political points, and to inflict more pain as if the pain of ugliness we have all witnessed and suffered were not already enough,” Reyes said.

“My family, especially my mother and my children, continue to suffer in silence at the horrible and distateful comments they read and hear about me in the media and all over the Internet,” she said.

“I believe what the public really hungers for is the truth about the officials they elected and how their money is spent or wasted.”

“The people now believe that the Senate stinks…It is sad but I so agree. It’s time to look for where the stink is actually coming from,” Reyes added.

Enrile himself denied that Reyes was his girlfriend.