Miriam: Enrile couple blaming Gigi for scam

MANILA, Philippines – “I grieve as a neighbor and friend of Gigi na siya ngayon ang hinuhulog, pina-front siya ni Enrile!” (She is the one being dropped; being used a front by Enrile.)

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago accused her archenemy Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and his wife of orchestrating a plot to blame lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes for the pork barrel scam. Reyes was Enrile’s chief of staff for 25 years.

Santiago linked Cristina Castañer Enrile’s confirmation of the supposed affair between her husband and Reyes to the corruption scandal. Senator Enrile and Reyes are co-respondents in the multi-billion peso corruption case.

“The Enrile couple is making Gigi the stand-alone culprit for all the kickbacks he received,” Santiago said in a hearing on the scam on Thursday, March 6.

“The Enrile camp is engaged in a lurid scheme masterminded by a person I can only call a sexually dysfunctional old man, a pedophile because she (Reyes) is half her age.” (READ: Miriam: Womanizer Enrile seduced Gigi Reyes)

Watch Santiago’s statements below.

During the hearing, Santiago mentioned Cristina’s interview with GMA News TV where she said Enrile’s affair with Reyes was the longest of the 38 affairs he supposedly had.

In that interview, Cristina vouched for the innocence of Enrile in the scam. Enrile said the affairs were just his wife’s “suspicions.”

Santiago then cited the testimonies of self-confessed bagman Ruby Tuason and Technology Resource Center (TRC) chief Dennis Cunanan that they only dealt with Reyes, not Enrile, in the senator’s pork barrel fund transactions.

Santiago said she sympathized with Reyes, who she first met when she was a trial court judge and Reyes was a law student who showed her a “pleasant disposition.”

She called Reyes her “humble friend” and reiterated her call for Enrile’s former chief of staff to turn state witness.

Referring to Enrile, Santiago said, “Ang tapang ng matanda na iyan! (The gall of that old man!) The best revenge for Attorney Gigi is to return the money Enrile stole. She was asked to launder it. Turn state witness!”

Santiago said Enrile is still liable for the scam even if Cunanan was only able to talk to Reyes to verify his pork barrel documents. She said Enrile’s inaction in trying to prevent the scam is proof of his guilt.

Cunanan agreed that it was unlikely Enrile did not know what was going on in his office.

The witness though did not agree with Santiago that the 90-year-old Enrile was the scam mastermind.

Santiago said, “Siya ang pinakamatanda, si Enrile. Sino sa tingin mo ang mastermind ng plunder?” (He is the oldest among the senators, Enrile. Who do you think was the mastermind of plunder?)

Cunanan said, “Pareho po sila.” (They are equally guilty.)

Santiago then repeated the line from a song in the movie Frozen. “Let it go!”

Enrile and Reyes are accused of conniving with alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles to funnel his pork barrel funds to her fake non-governmental organizations in exchange for kickbacks.

‘Half-truths are half-lies’

The supposed affair between Enrile and Reyes again became a point of discussion in the investigation into the scam. (READ: The Boss’ and Gigi Reyes)

In a hearing in February, Enrile’s critics tried to use his relationship with Reyes to try to pin him down. To date, there is no witness who testified personally dealing with Enrile in the scam. All of the whistleblowers said they merely dealt with Reyes or Enrile’s deputy chief of staff Jose Antonio Evangelista.

On Wednesday, Reyes responded to Cristina’s interview, particularly the claim that it was the women who threw themselves at Enrile.

“To be sure they are not all lies, but half-truths are half-lies as well,” Reyes told GMA News Online.

“Mrs Enrile has her own reasons for muddling the facts, painting her own picture of her marriage and laying the blame on ‘women’ who she said were the ones who ‘offered themselves’ to her husband. Excuse me, I certainly did not offer myself to him,” she said. (READ: Gigi Reyes to Enrile’s wife: ‘Half truths are lies as well‘)

Reyes though did not address allegations about her involvement in the scam, after issuing a blanket denial last year.

The former chief of staff left the country in 2013 after the scam broke out. She said Enrile had assured her he would stand by the authority he gave her and all she did was “faithful and pursuant to his instructions.” – Rappler.com