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Trillanes Calls Enrile 'Inventor of Fake News,' Explains Role in Scarborough Talks

'Lying comes out as naturally as breeding', said the ex-Senator.
by Ara Eugenio
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Composite image shows ex-Senators Trillanes and Enrile. PHOTO/S: NOEL CELIS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE.
Photo/s: AFP
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Ex-Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Tuesday denied bypassing diplomatic channels when he acted as special envoy to China in 2012, denying the claim of his former colleague in the Senate, Juan Ponce Enrile, whom he called the "inventor of fake news."

Trillanes accused Enrile of lying. When then President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino sent him to Beijing to help resolve the Scarborough Shoal standoff, he said then Ambassador-designate to China Sonia Brady, had yet to complete her credentials.

"Para lang sa mga kababayan natin na nakalimot nang konti kung ano ba si Enrile sa Philippine politics. Eh itong tao pong ito, ay talagang notorious. Kung may tinatawag na imbentor ng fake news ito na yun," Trillanes told Teleradyo.

"Ako naman bilang dating sundalo, 'pag binigyan ka ng duty eh isang karangalan yun na gampanan. Natatawa ako dito kay Enrile ay hindi niya naisip kung paano. 'Yan ang tinatawag namin sa PMA na initiative. Kapag binigyan ka ng mission, papano mo gagawin? Gagawa ka ng paraan," Trillanes said, noting he wasn't even Aquino's first choice for the role.

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Aquino had wanted to send then Budget Secretary Butch Abad who begged off because he was busy preparing the annual spending plan to be submitted to Congress.

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Enrile raised Trillanes' special envoy role during his guesting at President Rodrigo Duterte's "Talk to the People" Monday night, where the incumbent moved to shift blame on the state of affairs between Manila and China to the Aquino government.

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Trillanes said Enrile was beside him in at Cabinet meeting in July 2012, where the then senate president saw him give updates on his backchannel dealings with Beijing. 

"Sabi ko nga, andu-dun siya sa tabi ko nung nagbribriefing ako. Papanong sasabihin niyang ano yung mga pinag-usapan dun, katabi ko siya eh. May hearing aid naman siya naririnig naman niya ako nang maliwanag," Trillanes said.

He said Enrile was just inciting intrigue while shifting his stance over the West Philippine Sea dispute in support of Duterte.

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In veteran journalist' Marites Vitug's book "Rock Solid" that told a detailed story of the Philippines' victory against China before a UN-backed arbitration court, Enrile was said to agree with the Aquino administration's plan to "internationalize" the issue. 

The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of Manila on the case initiated by Aquino in June 2016, barely a month into the Duterte presidency.

"Enrile said the country should assert its rights and consult its allies first without forgoing bilateral talks," Vitug wrote. 

Trillanes recalled Enrile's admission in a Feb. 23, 1986 press conference that his ambushone of the reasons cited by dictator Ferdinand Marcos to justify his declaration of martial lawwas staged.

Enrile later on turned from his own statement again in his 2012 memoir, claiming that his political opponents were the ones spreading word that the ambush was faked. 

Noting that "lying comes out as naturally as breeding" for Enrile, Trillanes said: "Bago siya matapos, yung kanyang plunder case, ganon po yan. Wala naman pong ginawang maayos yan sa haba-haba ng kanyang buhay."

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