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 he didn’t really say her name, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago was the subject of his speech, as he addressed the accusations she made about him during the November 7 Senate hearing which had alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel fund scam mastermind Janet Lim.
“A member of Senate without an iota of concrete proof accused me of being murderous, going to CR with bodyguards, masterminding PDAF scam,” said Enrile. “I was advised to ignore what was said about me during hearing because the abusive words were from a cuckoo, an inane, bitterly hostile mind.”
Enrile says he had initially postponed delivering the privilege speech “out of respect and compassion to the hapless victims of Typhoon Yolanda.” But then there came a point where he said he had to clear his name.
One of Enrile’s most memorable lines in his speech was this: “Sinabi ng Senadora na ako ay may asim pa. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanyang sinabi, pero ikinalulungkot kong sabihin hindi ako naasiman sa kanya.”
Photo is the cover of Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir
