Trillanes joins Cayetano-Aquino verbal tussle
SENATOR ANTONIO F. Trillanes IV has joined the fray between former President Benigno S.C. Aquino III and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano over the issue of transparency in the South China Sea issue.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Trillanes responded to the open letter of Mr. Cayetano addressed to Mr. Aquino, and maintained that the country’s top diplomat knew about the details of his backchannel negotiations with China in 2012 at the height of the Scarborough Shoal standoff.
He also called Mr. Cayetano, a former senator, a “political snake” for only pointing out now the mistakes of the Aquino administration’s response to China.
“Sec. Cayetano has proven to be a political snake. The Panatag standoff happened in 2012 during which time Cayetano was still a loyal ally of the Aquino administration, so obviously, he never saw anything wrong with how PNoy (Aquino) resolved it then,” Mr. Trillanes said.
In his open letter posted on Facebook last Friday, Mr. Cayetano said Mr. Trillanes refused to reveal the purpose of his trips to China when he was pressed by then Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on the matter during a Senate session back in 2012.
The session was ended after Mr. Trillanes walked out.
Nevertheless, the senator answered the questions raised by Mr. Cayetano last Friday regarding his role as a backchannel negotiator. He said his three-month mission in China was to de-escalate the tension in the shoal and noted that the issue of sovereignty was not discussed.
Even though the negotiations resulted to the reduction of Chinese ships in the area, he added that the refusal of China to remove the remaining ships forced Mr. Aquino to file the arbitration case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands.
“Now the question to Cayetano and his boss, (President Rodrigo R.) Duterte, is this: ‘Why didn’t you follow through on our historic victory at the arbitration court?’ Or better yet: ‘Why aren’t you fighting for our sovereignty the way you promised during the campaign?” Mr. Trillanes said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
De Lima calls for probe on DILG’s anti-corruption, anti-drug program
SENATOR LEILA M. de Lima has called for an investigation into the reported lack of transparency by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on spendings for its anti-corruption and anti-drug program called the Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga (Masa Masid). Filed last Aug. 1, Senate Resolution 807 cited the findings of the Commission on Audit indicating that the DILG has already used its P500 million budget for the Masa Masid project, but has yet to submit accomplishment reports. “In the midst of the administration’s controversial campaign against criminality and drugs, disbursement of funds for programs should be transparent and implementers accountable to dispel speculation on the lawfulness of public expenditures,” Ms. De Lima said in a statement. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
