The Philippine Online Chronicles

“Pure hogwash.”

That was what Sen. Panfilo Lacson said of an alleged coup against Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, a former senate president, also denied involvement in the supposed ouster, saying, “I am not aware of this. I am not involved. I can swear on the Bible.”

The rumor started when Enrile-ally and Senate Pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada revealed the supposed plot during a Christmas party thrown for Senate reporters.

Drilon said there was no discussion in the Liberal Party (LP) about the change in leadership in the Senate.

“It’s not in the agenda. What else do you want me to say?” he told reporters after being asked if he was interested in the Senate presidency.

Fellow LP member Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan also belied the claims, adding that it was just “loose talk” on the part of Estrada.

“The only possible power grab at this point would necessarily come from the administration party and I, as an ally, am a natural magnet for recruitment. I have yet to hear at least one overture from them,” Lacson said.

One-upmanship

Lacson said the rumor is probably meant to “preempt any plan to oust Enrile by putting Malacañang and its allied in the Senate on the spot.” He also said it would be unfair for other Senators to speculate on those involved in the alleged impeachment.

“A great majority of us in the upper chamber are not for sale. That I can say with authority,” he said.

He added that President Benigno Aquino III knows the mentality of the senators and it would be “absurd to even imagine President Aquino putting pressure on the senators in order to secure a conviction.”

“Even when GMA (former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) with all her diabolical posturing during the height of her power failed to contain the majority of senators under the leadership of Senate President Enrile,” he explained.

According to Philippine Star, Enrile has Estrada, Sen. Gregorio Honasan and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III as “natural allies.”

Meanwhile, LP has Drilon, Pangilinan, Sen. Ralph Recto and Sen. Teofisto Guingona III. However, the group is supposedly in alliance with Senators Lacson, Antonio Trillanes IV, Osmeña and Francis Escudero.

Palace denial

In response to the rumors, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said there would be no reason for them to push for Enrile’s ouster since Aquino has a good working relationship with him.

“We don’t have anything to do with this. This is the first time we heard about this,” she said.

She reiterated Lacson’s reasoning that he is yet to be approached regarding the plot.

Valte declined to comment on whether the Palace is in support of Enrile’s leadership.

“You know, it’s hard to do that. We don’t want Enrile to be accused of being allied with the Palace. We will leave this thing to the Senate, it’s up to the senators to decide,” she said.

During the voting in the Senate, Aquino expressed support for Enrile after LP bet Pangilinan failed to get enough votes to make him Senate President.

It is said that it was Aquino and his then running-mate Sen. Manuel Roxas II who helped Enrile get the Senate presidency from Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. at the time that the latter was facing the C-5 controversy.

No connection to Corona trial

Pangilinan clarified that, “Conviction or acquittal in the impeachment trial (of Chief Justice Renato Corona) should not depend on who is in charge or who presides, but on the strength or weakness of the evidence presented and the ability or the lack of it on the part of the prosecution to prove its cases.”

Members of the House of Representatives, which initiated the case, also said the complaint can stand on its own and will not require Enrile’s ouster.