Press Release
August 8, 2013

Transcript of Ambush Interview of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile

On playing Ipad games

Q: Sir natuwa kami kanina, anong level niyo na raw sir? Sino po nagturo sa inyo sir (Bejeweled game)?

SJPE: Level 230. Level 271 pala. And my score is 7,426,250.

Q: Kailan kayo nagsimula maglaro?

SJPE: Siguro, during the campaign, the political campaign. I have nothing to lose when I was playing. Noong wala akong ginagawa, nung kampanya dahil wala naman tayong trabaho, e di yun.

Q: Di ba sir, akala ko nagpapaayos kayo ng mata nyo nung campaign?

SPJE: Oo, until now I am suffering from Macular Degeneration.

Q: Hindi ba binawal sir ng doctor na bawal mo sya...

SJPE: Hindi naman bawal yan eh. It exercises your mind.

Q: Sir, bukod sa ibang games sir sa gadget, meron pa kayong ibang game pa?

SJPE: Meron. Marami dyan, you can play poker.

Q: Sir, yung Candy Crush po, aware kayo dun?

SJPE: I would like to... Sometimes, I like to see the ___ just play with it and then finish it and then I'll see my score if I did well.

Q: Sir, sino po ang nag-introduce sa inyo ng game na yun? Sino po ang nagsabi na may ganitong laro?

SJPE: Wala. Pinag-aralan ko yun eh. Sariling sikap. Yung aking dating secretary sa former law office ko nilagay nya yun sa ipad ko, sabi "Sir, baka gusto nyong malibang. Paminsan minsan buksan nyo yan."

Q: Sir, Ipad mini po yan? Ipad mini po?

SJPE: Oo. Ayan o.

Q: Sir, baka talo nyo pa mga apo nyo.

SJPE: Hindi. Iba ang kanilang game eh.

Q: Sir, yung napicturan kayo sir na naglalaro ng Bejeweled, matagal nyo na pong ginagawa yun?

SJPE: Matagal na to exercise my diminishing intellectual capacity. I do not want to become a Naranyang Gabulan. Alam nyo ba yung Naranyang Gabulan?

Q: No sir.

SJPE: Maliwanag na buwan.

Q: Sir, na-try nyo na po ba yung Candy Crush?

SJPE: Oo pero I do not like those. I do not like to eat candies. I like Zen. Marami yung game ng Bejeweled.

Q: Sir, sa gabi naglalaro ka nyan?

SJPE: Yes. 'Pag ako ay gusto kong ma-exercise yung gray matter ko eh, nilalaro ko ito para makikita ko kung gaano ko kabilis matapos ang isang game. Marami namang klase itong game na ito. Diamond Mine, Lightning, Classic, Butterflies. Mahirap yung Butterflies eh, kaya nilalaro ko lang Zen.

Q: Sir, araw araw nyo po nilalaro?

SJPE: Oo. Kung gusto ko mag isip.

Q: Sir, maliban po sa Bejeweled ano pang nilalaro nyong games?

SJPE: Ay, kung minsan, nag-go-google ako. Tinitingnan ko yung mga ibang lugar.

Q: E-book sir, comics nagbabasa kayo?

SJPE: Ay, nung bata ako yun ang pinag-aaralan ko, pati Lola Basyang.

Q: Sir, would you have had time to play Bejeweled if you were still the Senate President?

SJPE: No. I did not. I was not playing any game before when I was in the Senate before the campaign. It was only during the campaign period, since I was not very active, I started to play with my ipad.

On Sex for Flight Issue

Q: Sir, anong tingin nyo dun sa hearing kanina? Yung kay Musa?

SJPE: Eh, hindi nagsasabi ng totoo eh, kaya tinigilan ko na. Hayaan mo na yung mga bata ang pumick-up nung point. Naniniwala ako dun sa babae eh.

Q: Sir, kapag ganon, saan sila pwedeng kasuhan kung yung crime po, alleged crime...

SJPE: Pinapa-check ko eh, sinabi ko kay Jinggoy, tanungin mo. Ewan ko kung tinanong niya if that Bahay Kalinga is a part of the Embassy area because if that is the part of the Embassy, the attempt was done there, that can be tried in the Philippines.

Q: Pwedeng kasuhan dito sir kung ganon?

SJPE: Pwede siyang kasuhan dito. Kung the criminal act is outside the territory of the Philippines so you cannot charge him here.

Q: Sir, meron ba silang diplomatic immunity kung doon naman kakasuhan sa ano...

SJPE: No. it's not diplomatic immunity, it's the provision of the Penal Code. The Penal Code is strictly territorial except a few exceptions.

Q: I mean sir, yung level ng Labor Attache, hindi kagaya sir ng Ambassador na may diplomatic immunity?

SJPE: No.

Q: Sir, sa tingin nyo hindi isolated yung ganoong kaso?

SJPE: Eh, kung nangyayari yun... That's why I started my questioning, what is the job of the Labor Attache? What is your function? Why are you deployed there? To protect. I knew it, but I wanted them to confirm it. That's why you should protect this people who are very weak. They do not have any influence or enough clout to protect themselves. That's the purpose of your existence in that country.

Q: So sir, excuse na lang ba yun? Yung sinasabi nina Musa na sa Al Khobar parang limited yung movement nila dahil parang hindi nire-recognize.

SJPE: My God, if you are a Labor Attache, you have to go anywhere, you are assigned to a country. This jurisdiction is the entire country, if you are just attached to a consulate and you stay there, you are not doing your job because the workers are not concentrated in one place.

Q: So, palusot nalang sir yun?

SJPE: Kalokohan yun eh, lalong ibabaon nya sarili nya.

Q: Sir, anong possible case against Labor Attache Musa considering ganong mga pangayayari?

SJPE: Dereliction of duty pwede, then attempted rape.

Q: Against Jojo? Against the driver?

SJPE: Against the driver and also with that complicity. If he did not do anything to... Imagine common sense yun. No person is, would you? Part with 3 months of your pay working in a foreign land to just settle a disagreement with somebody.

Q: Tsaka sir, kung kay Attache Musa daw po galing yung 10 thousand...

SJPE: Kaya nga. Eh di, that means, he was condoning the act of his driver. The first thing that he should have done is to fire him immediately once he learned that he was molesting these women.

Q: Sir, wouldn't it work against the complainant na tinanggap nya yung settlement and number 2, hindi pa sya nagpa-file ng kaso...

SJPE: Well, she was in need. Hindi ba? Eh, gusto na nya makauwi eh.

Q: Sir, is that tantamount to bribery yung pag-shell out nya ng pera?

SJPE: Hindi naman. But, that is evidence of the commission of a crime by the one who attempted to do the rape but, as far as the Labor Attache is concerned, he was not performing his job properly to protect precisely these people who needed government's protection.

Q: Sir, ano yung immediate action na dapat ginawa ni Labor Secretary Baldos kung nakarating sa kanya yung ganung insidente?

SJPE: Should have called the Attache here and asked him point blank, "What are you doing? Why did you not inquire?" That woman escaped from the Bahay Kalinga, they are supposed to protect her. She went there precisely to find succor and safe haven.

Q: So, sir, sa budget hearing ba dapat he assessed kung nagagampanan ng mga Embassy at labor officials abroad yung...

SJPE: Well, it's happening in Saudi Arabia it could be also happening in other areas of the world. Yun nga ang problema sa mga Attache Attache na yan eh, nagpupunta lang doon to go to a foreign land for a vacation. They are not doing their jobs kaya when we discuss the budget, we will raise this question. What's the need of paying the salaries of these people, enjoying their stay abroad, they are being paid in dollars, their salaries converted into dollars and yet they renege on the people that they are supposed to serve. Hindi pa tapos yun, nandoon pa yung si Villafuerte hindi pa natatanong.

On recent interpellation on Sen. Trillanes' speech

Q: Sir, yung interpellation nyo po kay Senator Trillanes wherein you said that, Congress can't pass legislation that will impair contracts.

SJPE: Congress a lawmaking body is limited by certain provisions of the Constitution. One of the limitations on the power of Congress is that it could not pass laws to impair the obligation of contracts, that's why I raised the issue what is the purpose of the inquiry. We are supposed to ask inquires in aid of the legislation. But, siya, he just want to inquire, policy analysis. Why do we have to do policy analysis? Policy of what? Of the Malacanang? Of the Executive department?

Q: Sir, Senator Santiago cited several jurisprudence that the freedom of contact is absolute and that it is subject to the police power of the state. Does that go against on what you said on the floor?

SJPE: I have a different notion. I'm not an author of books on Constitution but, I have enough understanding on the constitution. That's my understanding. Maybe she studied a different Constitution that I did.

Q: Sir, have you read her press statement today?

SJPE: What was her statement?

Q: She almost had a heart attack daw po after she learned about the debate between you and Trillanes.

SJPE: Well, good luck to her.

Q: You bullied Senator Trillanes daw sir. You bluffed and bullied.

SJPE: I did not bully. In fact, I greeted him a happy birthday. You know, she's debating with us but she's not in the floor. She should come and perform her job.

Q: Sir, are you challenging Senator Santiago?

SJPE: I'm not challenging anybody. I do my work as a Minority Floor Leader.

On Global City ownership issue

Q: Sir, last nalang. You're living in Makati, di ba may issue ngayon, maraming nagki-claim nung sa Global City sa The Fort, yung Taguig, Pateros at Makati.

SJPE: Alam mo naman nung after war, when I'm in Manila in fact I was Secretary of Defense, Fort Mckinley was a part of Makati.

Q: So historically...

SJPE: I do not know why all of a sudden Taguig has a part. I know that Bicutan which used to be a part of the military reservation was a part of Taguig but, the great part of the old Fort Mckinley was I think 5,000hectares eh, if I recall correctly, including the, what you have there, that used to be owned by the American government, the United States when we were a colony, was a military reservation under the control of the Department of National Defense. And part of Mckinley was a part of Makati.

Q: So sir, ang Pateros ngayon kini-claim na rin nila na kanila daw yun at yung mayor doon may proposal na gawin nalang parang Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority na maraming bayan yung maghahati-hati sa income.

SJPE: May mga maps yan eh ang munisipyo dito sa Manila. You know all of these cities now, except of Taguig, Makati, Muntinlupa, used to be little towns after the war. When Ayala developed the Makati Business Area, then the area prospered but, up until the Ramos government privitized Fort Mckinley or the Congress created the basis conversion of authority law, all of these areas where under the control of the military. When the law creating the BCDA, Basis Conversion Development Authority, ayon, yung mga iniwanan ng mga Amerikano na base nila, base militar, pati yung mga military base na hindi na kailangan or at least could dispense with was transferred to the Basis Conversion Development Authority. I used to administer that area as Secretary of National Defense and I knew that it was part of Makati.

Q: So, tama sir yung Court of Appeals?

SJPE: I think so, if they followed the old maps. May mga mapa yang munisipyo, mga boundaries eh.

News Latest News Feed