Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice (left) and Senator Grace Poe. SCREENGRABS FROM INQUIRER.net FILE VIDEOS
“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” said Liberal Party spokesperson and Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice to Senator Grace Poe’s demand for the immediate replacement of Joseph Emilio Abaya as the Department of Transportation and Communication secretary.
Erice came to the defense of Abaya, fellow LP stalwart and the ruling party’s president, who is being criticized by Poe, saying the country cannot endure the former’s “incompetence and shortsightedness” any longer.
Taking a swipe at Poe’s citizenship, Erice said: “Noong sinimulang gawin ‘yang MRT, wala pa siya sa Pilipinas. Amerikano pa siya.”
“Hindi niya alam ang sinasabi niya. Ako alam ko yan eh, kabisado ko ‘yang (MRT) Metro Rail Transit issue. Hindi niya alam,” he said in an interview on Thursday at the LP headquarters in Quezon City.
Erice said he understands the problem that’s hounding the mass transport system but refuted critics’ claims that this was caused by “Daang Matuwid” or the reform agenda of the Aquino administration.
But then he admitted that Abaya is one of the “weak points” of the administration. However, he believes that the embattled secretary will not become a liability in the party’s campaign for its standard-bearer Mar Roxas.
“As far as the public perception is concerned, inaamin ko na weak point ‘yan (Abaya). Pero dahil alam ko yung katotohanan, alam ko na tama ‘yung ginagawa ni Secretary Abaya at hindi siya sumusuko dun sa mga sindikato diyan sa MRT,” said the lawmaker, referring to the Sobrepeña group which currently owns the railway system.