JPE son urges father, Miriam to kiss and make up

PALAYAN CITY, Philippines – United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate Jack Enrile is wishing that his father, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago would end their word war and be friends again.

“I hope both sides will stop the personal attacks and look back at the times they worked together, that they would remember their harmonious relationship for the sake of the country,” he said in a press conference after attending a gathering of women here yesterday.

The spat between Enrile Sr. and Santiago stemmed from the additional P2.2 million in maintenance and other operating expenses (MOEE) that the Senate President distributed to 18 senators last Christmas.

Santiago and three other senators – Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, his sister Pia, and Antonio Trillanes IV – were given only P600,000 each. 

Jack said he holds no grudge against Santiago despite her tirades against his father, whom he recalled had shared some good times with the feisty senator.

He said he represented his father in Santiago’s silver wedding anniversary celebration.

The Senate aspirant said his father is an elderly statesman and has served the nation for 50 years already.

“I think he has served well, yet at this late stage in his political career, it seems he is being targeted,” he said, adding his father understands the game of politics and is very much capable of answering the allegations against him.