Can government survive Enrile's can of worms?
Once Senator JPE opens his Pandora's box, no one can ever stop him.and there shall be tremors. Heavens may even fall. The oldest member of the Upper House, former Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile has declared via national television that he has evidence in his possession that directly points to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III as the one on top of the Oplan Exodus which led to the massacre of forty-four Special Action Forces officers and men in Mamasapano a year ago. Malacañan should be taking such threats seriously and not merely take the words of JPE nonchalantly. The old legal eagle seems not to be kidding. He is dead serious. All the President's men and women must now marshal all the resources at their command to prevent the reopening of the Mamasapano probe.
The veteran legislator is a brilliant lawyer perhaps even better than any Malacañan legal expert. He was a Bar topnotcher, a former Law professor and has proven himself in the field of public service, as former Customs Commissioner, former Minister of Finance, and, of course, the longest standing minister and later, Secretary of the Department of National Defense. He was rumored to be the true architect of the Martial Law proclamation. Of course, in 1986, he turned against his President and started the EDSA Revolution along with then AFP Deputy Chief of staff, Fidel V Ramos and now Senator Gringo Honasan. The President legal team may not be a match to the Enrile's brand of lawyering.
When it comes to law and the practice of legal techniques, Senator Enrile knows his marbles. We all know that law is his cup of tea. We saw him in action in the Corona impeachment trial. He headed a big law firm which was originally one of the biggest law firms in the country founded by his famous father, Don Alfonso Ponce Enrile. It became the Enrile-Siguion Reyna Law Firm, which was run with his brother-in-law Atty Leonardo Siguion Reyna, the husband of Armida, Johnny's half-sister. That law firm gave birth to the famous ACCRA Law Offices which produced Senators Eduardo Angara, Raul Roco, Renato Cayetano, Franklin Drilon, and now the incumbent Senator Sonny Angara.
The evidentiary goods supposedly in the possession of Senator Enrile must be that relevant and admissible evidence, otherwise this legal luminary would not have bragged about it. He was saying on national TV that the evidence in his hands would prove that the President was directly on top of the Oplan Exodus that led to the tragic massacre of forty-four Special Action Forces officers and men. JPE was saying that the president knew every detail of the operations and allegedly did not do anything to save the hapless SAF 44. If this is true, then the President has a lot of explaining to the people. This is definitely a very serious matter. I can feel tremors that shall jolt the nation.
In effect, the senator is accusing the President of betraying the trust of the whole nation. Enrile is virtually saying that our head of state and head of government has been lying to the people. If the good senator has no solid evidence to prove his draconian charges, he better prepare himself for the big backlash. The people in the Liberal party and those in the administration will not take this lying down. Upon the other hand, if the senator has the goods really in his hands, then the President may be on the brink of impeachment. He will go down the pages of history as the one who started too high and ended in the gutter.
At these times in our struggles as a nation and as a people, we do not need any such huge and earthshaking controversy that may break the nation. And so, the gentleman from Cagayan should be better prepared for a real trial to ferret out the truth. Otherwise, this gambit may fall on his face, and he will be the one to go down shattered and shunned, condemned by an outraged nation. What matters most in the face of this accusation is a fair and objective investigation. It should not be presided by Senator Grace Poe or by Senator Bongbong Marcos, not even by Senator Cayetano. They all have their political baggage. Let an independent minded, retired jurist lead this probe. And let the truth come out no matter if the heavens fall. The truth is what matters most.
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