Enrile offers to quit Villar probe panel

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile offered yesterday to resign as chairman of the Senate committee of the whole, which is hearing the ethics complaint against Senator Manuel Villar Jr.

“As I said in my speech, I resign and I leave my fate to my colleagues. It’s up to them to decide,” Enrile said after the session adjourned last night.

The Senate President’s resignation stemmed from a word war between him and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel.

Enrile confronted Pimentel over his “personal attacks” against his way of handling the committee before the Senate plenary .

Enrile called Pimentel “coward”, “hypocrite,” “traitor,” and “spoiled brat who went on a tantrum.”

“I leave it, as I said in my speech, I resign and leave my fate to my colleagues. It’s up to them to decide. They can nominate somebody else if they want,” Enrile told reporters.