Miriam fires back: 'Womanizer' Enrile is 'pork' scam mastermind

MANILA, Philippines -  Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Wednesday retaliated against Senate Minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile and fired several accusations against her rival whom she called the "drama king" of politics.

In her much-anticipated privilege speech in response to Enrile's, Santiago insisted that the former Senate President is the brains of the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.

"[Enrile is] the mastermind of the biggest plunder case in Philippine history," she said.

"He could very well have delivered a privilege speech proving his innocence. Instead, his speech was directed at me, rehashing black propaganda invented against me during the 1992 presidential campaign," she added.

Santiago said statistics from the Department of Budget and Management from 2005 to 2013 show that Enrile was the biggest recipient of pork barrel funds, amounting to a total of P1.189 billion.

She said according to whistleblowers, Enrile gave the fake non-government organizations run by Janet Lim-Napoles, access to his pork barrel funds at least 22 times.

"In all, Enrile reportedly gave P641.65 million from his pork barrel funds to dummy corporations founded by Napoles," she said.

In her speech, Santiago threw a barrage of allegations against Enrile and urged the Department of Justice to investigate the alleged criminal acts of her nemesis

"The man is an incorrigible liar and criminal, as brought out by the litany of his crimes against the Filipino people," Santiago said.

Enrile's hand in almost 4,000 deaths; underdeclared wealth

Santiago said Enrile should be convicted for his command responsibility for the deaths and disappearances during the Martial Law.

Citing a newspaper report about an an e-mail by the Communist Party of the Philippines to the media, Santiago said "Enrile's hands are forever stained with the blood of close to 4,000 people 'salvaged' during Marcos' reign of terror."

Enrile was the former Defense minister during the time of President Ferdindand Marcos.

Santiago also said that Enrile underdeclared his wealth in his 2012 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth.

She said Enrile only declared a networth of P118 million, "belying his wanton lifestyle."

Santiago said Enrile owns a residence in the exclusive Dasmariñas Village, a house in Valle Verde, and a huge beach house in his prime beachfront property in Natipuan, Nasugbu, Batangas,

"His legal expertise is obviously tax evasion," Santiago said.

Enrile as king of smuggling, gambling and illegal logging

Santiago also alleged that Enrile was involved in other criminal acts such as smuggling, gambling, and illegal logging.

She raised the issue involving the Cagayan de Oro Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), the free port in Enrile's home province.

Enrile authored the law that established CEZA.

She said there have been "illegal shenanigans" in Port Irene, prompting Senator Sergio Osmeña, chair of subcommittee B of the finance committee, to recommend a cut from the CEZA budget of P800 million.

"On Enrile's appeal, Osmeña agreed to restore this amount of nearly P1 billion, subject to certain conditions. That's how much of the taxpayers' money go to finance Enrile's smuggling empire," Santiago said.

The senator also called Enrile as the "anticipated king of smuggling."

She said the CEZA operates online gaming outside the jurisdiction of Pagcor, and it is the only ecozone in the country that is allowed by the Enrile law to host and issue online gambling licenses to offshore companies.

"In brief, CEZA promotes online gambling, or what it calls interactive gaming, which has been described as "a lucrative niche market," Santiago said.

She also alleged that during martial law, the largest logging concession covering 95,770 hectares was awarded to Enrile as owner of San Jose Lumber. His license expired in 2007.

Enrile as 'womanizer'

Santiago also called Enrile a "psychopathic hypersexualized serial womanizer."

She cited a  Chicago Tribune report, quoting  Enrile's wife Cristina saying that she  "no longer could tolerate his chasing after other women, including domestic helpers, cooks, and assistants."

"This is eyewitness testimony that Enrile is psychopathic and urgently needs treatment for his sex addiction," Santiago said.

She also brought up the allegations that Enrile had a relationship with his chief-of-staff, Gigi Gonzales-Reyes.

Clash of Titans

Santiago ended her speech by again challenging Enrile in a televised debate on the plunder charge against him in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam.

"If this second time Enrile again evades debate, that will be an admission that he is the mastermind of the plunder of some P10 billion of the taxpayers' money," Santiago said.

The feisty lawmaker said she will not back down from  Enrile's attacks.

"I hope that this clash of titans in the Senate will lead to an Armaggedon in Philippine politics," she said.