Senate employees walk out Wednesday,, Jan. 30, 2012, to air their support for embattled Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile. MAILA AGER/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines– Several employees of the Senate gathered outside the chamber on Wednesday to express their support for Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile.
The employees, carrying placards, went out of the Senate building at around 12 noon.
The placards read: “Senate President, we love and support you all the way,” “SP JPE please stay strong,” “Happy kami sayo Manong Johnny”, among others.
The employees also repeatedly chanted JPE! JPE! JPE!
Many of the messages were also in support of Enrile’s resigned chief of staff, Atty. Jessica ‘Gigi” Reyes.
Some of the placards read: “We believe in you Atty Reyes,” “Atty, Gigi Reyes, Please do not leave us! We love you!” “Atty Gigi Reyes, we support you.”
One placard also read: “No more fighting! Save the Senate.”
Photo by MAILA AGER/INQUIRER.net
The Senate was embroiled in a controversy over the millions of funds that Enrile gave last year to his allies in the Senate.
All senators received P1.6 million last December from Enrile’s office as additional maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) except for four senators who have been at odds with Enrile on various issues.
The four were Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Pia Cayetano and Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV.
Some of the employees who joined the rally reportedly came from the offices of Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Ralph Recto.
The rally ended at 1 p.m. and the employees who joined it went back to their respective offices.