On Wednesday afternoon, Nov 27, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile delivered a privilege speech that seemed to shock and amuse his fellow senators, not to mention the public. Though unnamed, it was obvious that Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago was the subject of his speech. Here are 10 things we remember from the morning after:
1. I have been advised by well-meaning friends to ignore what was said against me in that Blue Ribbon hearing. After all, according to them, the abusive words were from an inane and bitterly hostile mind.
2. I will soon retire from politics after two and a half more years of public service, and, I owe it to the current generation to answer the barefaced lies said against me and my office…
3. Mr. President, I never murdered anyone during all of my almost 90 years on this planet.
See also: 7 killer quotes from Miriam Defensor Santiago
4. Mr. President, I never realized until that Blue Ribbon hearing that we have a “peeping Tom” in this Senate…perhaps my obsessive hater is the only one, in all these years, ever so blessed to see someone carrying a long one in the Senate restroom…
5. Modesty aside, Mr. President, early in my youth I was trained in the native martial art of arnis. Later on, I earned a black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwando. Hence, I do not need a firearm, long or short, to defend myself in a face to face combat.
6. Sinabi niya ako ay may asim pa. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanyang sinabi na ako ay may asim pa pero ikinalulungkot kong sabihin at masakit mang banggitin hindi ako naaasiman sa kanya.
7. Tinanong ko po sa kanya — kayo po ay tinatawag na cum laude sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas. Ano po ba ang nakuha niyong grado sa inyong Bar examination? She replied that she got a grade of 76. Sitenta’y-sais porsiyento po ang kanyang grado sa Bar examination. That meant that she obtained low grades in all her Bar subjects. And I remember, natatandaan ko po, that she got a grade of 56 in Ethics, the easiest Bar examination subject.
8. Ang masaklap po, Ginoong Pangulo, dinadaan nya sa pagpapatawa, sa kanyang mga popular na pick-up lines, ang kanyang panloloko sa mga inosenteng kababayan natin. At ang mas masaklap pa po dito ay kung anuman ang mga salitang kanyang binitiwan ay kinakagat ng ilang mga peryodista nang ganon-ganon na lamang, sinasakyan ang kanyang mga paratang para lamang tuluyan akong idiin dito sa isyu ng PDAF.
9. Finally, Mr. President, then Senator Panfilo Lacson called my bitter and obsessive hater “a crusading crook”. I have yet to hear from her a bristling rebuttal, a relevant answer, or a lucid explanation, not ad hominem as she is wont to do. Up to now the words of Senator Lacson remained unanswered. They are met with deafening silence from her. I just wonder why!
10. I am aware that the public has been waiting for me to speak up on this matter, but for now suffice it to say that there will be a time and a more appropriate forum to deal in detail with the alleged PDAF scam, and I will give my fullest cooperation to unearth the truth in that alleged scandal.
Photo from Juan Ponce Enrile’s Facebook Page
