On Sun, Jan 17, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile revealed that he has rejected Malacañang’s request for him to submit in advance the questions he will be asking Cabinet members at the Jan 27 Senate inquiry into the Mamasapano massacre.
“Enrile said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. was wrong in saying that the Palace could get his questions in advance. He said that kind of arrangement only applied to the question hour in Senate plenary sessions and not to committee hearings in aid of legislation,” reports Christine O. Avendaño in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Enrile stated, “I cannot give my questions in advance.” He added that “apparently the Palace wanted to avoid the hearing.”
The report noted: “The Senate is reopening its inquiry into the massacre of Special Action Force (SAF) commandos by Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other rebel guerrillas in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on Jan. 25 last year. Forty-four SAF men were killed in the encounter.”
The report further revealed, “He said it was ‘impractical’ to give the questions in advance and his questions were not only for the Cabinet members but also for the police and military officials. Enrile said his questions would be answerable by a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No.'”
Enrile also said “it would be up to the committee headed by Sen. Grace Poe to decide what action to take if the Palace would not cooperate in the inquiry.”
Enrile reiterated that “his focus would be on what the President did on that fateful day, when he skipped his family’s celebration of the birthday of his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, and flew to Zamboanga City with top government and military officials.”
