Press Release
February 8, 2010

Transcript of ambush interview with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
KAPIHAN SA MANILA HOTEL

ON SENATOR LACSON

SP Senator Trillanes has been under confinement and he is considered as a member of the Senate. He has his own budget allocation. He has his own staff. He participates in the functioning of the Senate except that he could not answer the roll call because he is under confinement. He could not vote, but he can present resolutions. He can author bills and the hearings are conducted by his committees through Senator Lacson who is the surrogate of Senator Trillanes. Now, if Ping will be arrested and confined, then his role as a Senator will continue. His staff will continue. He will still have the allocation from the budget of the Senate, but the work that he is performing will have to be assigned to some other Senator.

Q Sir, paano kung hindi po siya bumalik?

SP Ganun din. He is entitled to that until he is pronounced innocent or guilty by the courts.

Q Sir, earlier you said that if you were to handle his case, you can acquit Senator Lacson.

SP Well, that is my appreciation of the evidence that I have from him. I am saying that as a lawyer. I am not saying that he will face the government this week. But I think if I heard him right, I have a good defense for him.

Q Sir, ano po ang nakikita ninyo sa side niya?

SP I will not disclose that because that is unethical for me as a lawyer. That is to be handled by his own defense counsel.

Q Sir, but Senator Honasan has given his own advice. He should master the art of survival he said?

SP While he is out there. That is normal, you must survive. If you are out in the wind, trying to elude your arresting officers. Eventually he has to surface and clear his name. Because you cannot clear it while you are out there and the court cannot hear your case until you present yourself, you are arraigned, you say guilty or not guilty, I am not guilty, I have to defend myself, and that will be the start of the process.

Q Sir, mas malaki po yung banta since he is out there?

SP Anong klaseng banta?

Q Sa buhay po niya.

SP Well, he if you are a fugitive then you expect the worst condition. So it is better that he is under the custody because the responsibility will belong to the government once he is under its control. Imagine, if a Senator is harmed inside his cell while he is in the custody of the government, malaki ang pananagutan ng gobyerno.

Q Sir, claim ng harassment po sa pamilya niya?

SP Ewan ko kung meron. Meron bang harassment sa pamilya niya? I do not know.

ON THE LAST DAY OF SESSION

Q Sir, sa quorum naman po. Ano po yung panukalang batas na inaasahan ninyo sanang mapasa pero hindi po napasa?

SP Yung NTC bill is the most important. Dahil doon, binibigyan namin yung mga Commissioner ng fixed tenure so that they will not be open to pressure from anybody. Eh kung wala kang tenure, you can be removed anytime, eh talagang you are not very sure of your decisions. Nangangamba ka kung magdedesisyon ka, eh napakalakas nung mga nireregulate mo na mga negosyo, pwede kang patalsikin sa pwesto mo.

Q Sir, disappointed ba kayo sa quorum?

SP Na walang quorum? Syempre. Sino ba naman ang matutuwa kung iboboycott yung Senado eh trabaho namin ang magsilbi sa bayan. Yun ang dahilan kung bakit ginawa kaming Senador eh. Kung maggagawa ka ng maniobra para maitago ang katotohanan, maitago yung sinasabi ng report, maitago yung mga sinasabi na mga ebidensya na nilalaman nung report, eh wala naman sigurong matutuwa. Mga tao d'yan sa publiko natin ay hindi matutuwa doon, di ba?

ON CAMPAIGN AD SPENDING

Q Sir, kanina po nabanggit ninyo na unprecedented yung ginagawa na ads ng mga presidentiables?

SP Ako, ngayon lang ako nakikita ng kandidato na ganyan karaming commercial. Matagal na ako sa politika. Siguro, ewan ko, hindi ko naman sinabi na hindi siya dapat gumastos, pero there must be some moderation otherwise some people might have the impression that he is trying to buy the position of President through his money. I am not saying that he is, that that is his intention, but that could be the impression of many because people are saying that everybody has a price as far as he is concerned. So I think that when we aspire for a position like the Presidency, we should be very careful to avoid any impression that we are so obsessed in becoming a President such that we are willing to spend a fortune to attain that goal. And if you are going to tell me "I am doing this for public service" I am going to ask him, "to whom are you joking?" Medyo yata hindi kapani-paniwala yun, hindi ba?

Q Sir, yung sinasabi po niya yung ginawan niya ng bahay, na hindi naman po niya babawiin yung bahay, lumabas na yung pera?

SP Ako, skeptical ako sa mga ganyan eh. Yung sinasabi na millionaires do not steal, sa aking karanasan eh pag mas mayaman ka, mas malalaking proyekto ang hinahawakan mo, mas malalaki ang mga kinikita mo.

ON BUREAU OF CUSTOMS

Q Yung pino-propose po ni Senator Pimentel na inquiry sa Bureau of Customs?

SP Ano yung sa Bureau of Customs?

Q Allowed pa po bang magconduct ng Senate inquiry?

SP Kung meron siyang alam sa Bureau of Customs, he should initiate. If he thinks that I have any contact in the Bureau of Customs which I deny, let him bring it out into the open and investigate it. I will support his investigation.

Q Allowed po ng law na magkaroon pa kahit adjourned na po yung session?

SP Meron kaming standing committee eh. Standing resolution na any committee can continue to investigate that. But if he cannot prove his claim, then I would tell him as a matter of self-respect, you have to quit. Get it out from the Senate. I have been a Commissioner of Customs. They can ask, when I was there if I did anything foolish. Marami pang old timers d'yan eh. Pati si Commissioner Morales was an employee in my time. Modesty aside, I don't deal with people in the Bureau of Internal Revenue, with the Bureau of Customs. I just recommended the present collector of the Port of Manila, si Raul because he was introduced to me. I gave a recommendation. It turned out that he has done very well as a collector of Customs. He increased the collection of the Port of Manila tremendously. Now, if that is corruption, I do not know.

Q May lumapit daw po kasi sa kanya na isang group na nagsumbong?

SP Eh di sabihin niya kung sino yun at magsampa sila ng kaso. Kung meron akong ginawang masama dun, kasuhan ako. Alam mo, mahirap yung magpaparatang yung ganyan na hindi mo sinasabi yung facts. Eh di palabasin nila yung mga tao na nagsasabi na si Enrile may tinatanggap sa Bureau of Customs. Sino yun?

Q Hindi po sinasabi na kayo po yung involved. Ang sinabi lang na may group.

SP Eh dapat sabihin niya kung sino yung grupo na yun. Alam ko meron d'yan na mga tao na gusto rin lumapit din sa akin, batain ko sila, eh sabi ko hindi ako nambabata maski sino. Alam ko yun, si Collector Mangawang. Ako pinapangalanan ko yung mga tao na yun. Babae yun. Namamasyal sa Europa yun. Eh bakit yung babae na yun, ay nakakapasyal sa Europa for the salary that she is getting from the Bureau of Customs? Ibig sabihin nun nangongotong din sya. I'm sure that yun ang nagsumbong sa kanya, ang lumapit sa kanya because I denied them. Now, Senator Pimentel, name names.

ON CAMPAIGN AD SPENDING

Q Sir, going back lang po sa advertisements ni Villar, can he be made accountable?

SP I don't know. Let the Commission on Elections deal with that problem.

ON PUBLIC UTILITIES

Q Is there a possibility that yung mga needs ng tao like water ay maibalik po under the management of the government rather than private, kasi po ang nangyayari, komo privatized sya, ang tendency...

SP Alam mo iha, kung gobyerno yan, because of the inefficiency of decisions, nagiging inefficient yung system. Now, it has been privatized in order to lessen the financial burden on the government. Precisely these are regulated public utilities. Nasa regulator yan to determine the level of income of these public utilities like power, communication, water, transportation. That's why I am advocating that we should not make these public utilities as sources of income for the support of government. They are not tax-raising economic units. In fact, in the olden days, before the VAT, itong mga public utilities are subject to a specific rate of franchise tax in lieu of all taxes, national or local, because these are public services for the general public. Pero binago yung sistema. So it became a source of revenue for government. So natural itong mga nagnenegosyo, they keep their rates. I do not know why the regulators cannot control them.

Q Kasi Sir, if we are going to look at Singapore, public utilities nila are under the government, but you look at Singapore, they are very progressive.

SP Natural, because they enforce their regulatory powers. You do any foolishness under Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew or his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, ay talaga ngang papasok ka sa bilangguan.

Q Eh di ba Sir, the same public utilities are a major source of income for the government kung sila talaga ang naghahawak efficiently.

SP Not necessarily. Halos libre yan eh, kung government.

Q Basic service to the people?

SP Correct. Before, it used to be that way. Nung NAWASA yan, mura pero tignan mo naman ang mga tubo ng tubig mo, rusty, kung minsan napopullute because butas butas na, napabayaan.

Q Maybe because of the people assigned for that particular utility?

SP Correct.

Q Eh di ba Sir, dapat yung palitan doon yung inaassign na tao para doon?

SP You know if you were President, you also have good intentions to put good people there but with number of people that you have to supervise, you cannot supervise everybody, and not everybody is the same.

ON SENATOR LACSON

Q Sir, bilang isang Senador, meron po bang batas na maaaring magawa bilang protekta kay Senator Lacson?

SP Wala. The only thing that can be done for him is to see to it that his rights are respected as a person, that no harm will come to him although I don't think that the government has any intention to harm him.

Q If the Senate is asking him to return to the Philippines?

SP Ako, yan ang panawagan ko. To return and face this problem, because that is the only way by which he can clear his name. Out of the control of the courts, he cannot be arraigned and arraignment is the starting point of the trial that will clear him.

Q So sa ngayon, sir, fugitive na rin ang turing natin sa kanya?

SP In a way, he is. Once the warrant is issued, you are a fugitive of justice.

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