By Gerry Baldo and Angie M. Rosales
The Daily Tribune
PALACE WON’T CONFIRM PAYING FOR SOLON’S CHINA TRIPS
President Aquino appears to have started distancing himself yesterday from Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, his backchannel agent with China, as the Palace yesterday said Aquino does not plan to meet with Trillanes anytime soon while at the same time becoming ambivalent on its statement on where Trillanes sourced his funds on the 16 occassions that he met with Chinese officials.
Aquino’s deputy spokesman Abigail Valte discounted the possibility of a meeting between Aquino and Trillanes citing Aquino’s extremely hectic schedule.
She was also evasive on questions about the Palace providing the funds for Trillanes’ backchanneling mission as was claimed by the senator during a confrontation with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last Thursday.
“Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to verify that over the weekend. Perhaps, we can start asking those questions when work resumes,” Valte said.
The Palace realized that Trillanes had placed the Aquino administration into a deeper problem than expected when Trillanes admitted yesterday that he did not coordinate with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and was doing it alone in his dealings with his Chinese contacts while performing the task of being the government’s supposed designated “backdoor negotiator” in easing tension over Scarborough Shoal.
“It’s not (part of) my responsibility (to coordinate with him). I assumed, since we we’re serving one and the same President that he’s being informed of what I was doing then, that I was engaged in backchannel talks. So there was no problem in that regard,” he said in a radio interview.
Trillanes on Friday claimed that Malacañang shouldered his travel expenses, in an effort to prove the legitimacy of his Beijing visits.
Valte added that she doesn’t also have any idea as to how much is involved in the 16 instances that saw Trillanes fly to Beijing.
“No, I don’t have an idea. I don’t have that information,” she added.
Valte likewise shrugged off reports that had both Trillanes and ailing Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady meeting eye to eye with Aquino standing between them.
“I do know that the President intends to talk to Senator Trillanes personally which he also mentioned, I think, last Friday in the interview with the press corps, the President even said that (he had) yet to talk to Senator Trillanes and that has to be done soon. The problem is that the President has so much concern requiring his immediate attention. I do not know about Ambassador Brady because as of the moment she is recovering”, Valte said while confirming that Brady had returned to the country after suffering from a stroke in Beijing.
“And, yes, it is confirmed that she is back in the country and while people are interested in speaking to her, we’d like to also appeal that allow Ambassador Brady to recover please before she is subjected to interviews of any sort because it is imperative that her health allows it, her full recovery is the priority at the moment”, she added.
Trillanes also resumed his tirades against Enrile despite the reported gag order on him by President Aquino.
He challenged Enrile to haul him to court if indeed he committed some violations to the country’s laws on his role in helping resolve the row with China and present evidence as to his alleged involvement in pushing the Chinese investor’s supposed interest in a P70-billion business undertaking eyed in the said disputed areas.
“The President has spoken (about my role as backdoor negotiator) and I’m thankful to him. It’s no longer important what happened. What’s more important is that we were able ease the tension,” he said.
When told that Enrile said he does not intend to stoop down to Trillanes’ level, the latter said the most senior senator should have opted keep his silence instead.
Valte, however, would not make any comment as to how the President intends to deal with the supposed “Brady Notes”.
“There are people in the government that have access to the Brady notes. I don’t know… While, again, there are people who do have access to that, we don’t have an idea if there will be really confirmation about vis-à-vis the notes that were read on the Senate floor last week”, Valte was quoted as saying.
Trillanes went to China 16 times since May 2012 in what he claimed was an effort seen to de-escalate and resolve the row between the Philippines and China over a maritime territory known to have an abundant deposit of oil.
Aquino, through his spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, said it was the senator who had volunteered to be the President’s backdoor negotiator in the China-Philippines dispute.
Malacañang admitted that a politician who was once jailed for coup plotting had been in secret talks with China over a territorial row, as the tactic appeared to backfire amid bitter infighting.
Trillanes had been “authorized” to hold back-channel talks with Chinese officials to settle a row over competing claims to Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Lacierda said.
The appointment caused a deep rift with Del Rosario, who had been officially in charge of negotiations with China and was excluded from the unofficial talks.
Trillanes claimed he had been responsible for easing tensions with China after the dispute erupted in April, and accused Del Rosario of “treason” because of his allegedly aggressive tactics.
Trillanes added that he had met “top Chinese officials” at least 16 times in Manila and in Beijing since May.
The dispute between China and the Philippines began in April, when ships from both nations engaged in a stand off at Scarborough Shoal. The shoal is an outcrop of rocks about 230 kilometers from the western coast of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to other Asian countries.
A one-way trip to Beijing actually costs P37,410 or roughly P75,000 for a two way travel ticket, translating to an amount of P1.2 million covering all 16 trips just for the travel costs.
Claiming to have been on an official mission to Beijing, Trillanes found himself in an awkward position after Malacanang denied having designated him as special envoy of the President.
Trillanes went to China 16 times since May 2012 in what he claimed was an effort seen to de-escalate and resolve the row between the Philippines and China over a maritime territory known to have an abundant deposit of oil.
Aquino, through his spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, said it was the senator who had volunteered to be the President’s backdoor negotiator in the China-Philippines dispute.
Malacañang admitted that a politician who was once jailed for coup plotting had been in secret talks with China over a territorial row, as the tactic appeared to backfire amid bitter infighting.
Trillanes had been “authorized” to hold back-channel talks with Chinese officials to settle a row over competing claims to Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Lacierda said.
The appointment caused a deep rift with Del Rosario, who had been officially in charge of negotiations with China and was excluded from the unofficial talks.
Trillanes claimed he had been responsible for easing tensions with China after the dispute erupted in April, and accused Del Rosario of “treason” because of his allegedly aggressive tactics.
Trillanes added that he had met “top Chinese officials” at least 16 times in Manila and in Beijing since May.
The dispute between China and the Philippines began in April, when ships from both nations engaged in a stand off at Scarborough Shoal. The shoal is an outcrop of rocks about 230 kilometers from the western coast of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to other Asian countries.
A former navy lieutenant, Trillanes was among the leaders of two failed coups in 2003 and 2007 against then President Gloria Arroyo. He won a Senate seat in 2007 from a jail cell while on trial for rebellion. He was subsequently granted amnesty by Aquino, a fierce critic of Arroyo, before the trial ended.
Lacierda admitted Aquino is on top of the mission that saw Trillanes engaging with Chinese authorities, discussing merits of the dispute over the West Philippine Sea, even as he claimed that President gave the green light to the soldier turned senator’s supposed mission.
Aquino’s spokesman explained that the President’s concurrence on Trillanes’ clandestine diplomatic expedition could also be seen as a designation of the President, who wanted a dispute resolved in a manner that doesn’t involve firepower.
Asked for details on how the idea of backdoor negotiation with China came up, Lacierda clarified that the idea to negotiate with China via the backdoor wasn’t something from the administration even as he said it was Trillanes who had first approached the President and suggested backroom deals with the Chinese, and with him (Trillanes) as the negotiator.
Lacierda stressed that that Aquino’s act of having Trillanes touch base with Chinese authorities via the backdoor should not be seen as the President favoring the unconventional manner to resolve disputes.
House majority leader Neptali Gonzales II also urged Enrile and Trillanes to go on a “ceasefire” following China’s softening in its position in the disputed islands and shoals in the West Philippine Sea.
Gonzales said that it was apparent in the message of Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping to Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas that there is hope that the strained relations between the two countries could be repaired.
“I hope that Sens. JPE and Trillanes should likewise declare a ceasefire in the light of this development,” Gonzales said adding that the country has no other option but the diplomatic solution.
Roxas was sent by President Aquino to China upon the recommendation of Sen. Antonio Trillanes.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Gonzales said, however, that there is a need to pursue further diplomatic relations that have been strained by the conflict.
“Yes of course we need to further pursue diplomatic means in resolving the conflict,” Belmonte said.
But Belmonte distanced from the ongoing word war between Enrile and Trillanes citing interparliamentary courtesy.
“I don’t like to intrude into that. What’s said has been said,” said Belmonte.
Last Friday, Vice President Xi told Roxas in the sidelines of 9th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, China that tensions between the two countries had “eased” after a blow-up over a disputed island in the West Philippine Sea.
In separate interviews, House Assistant Majority Leader and Citizens Against Battle Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna and Youth Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) party-list Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez shared Gonzales view that the verbal tussle between Enrile and Trillanes would only further jeopardize the country’s national security.
“The two senators should have discussed their differences and arguments in their closed door meeting, especially the China issue. Raising the China issue on national TV will not help us in our territorial dispute with China. It will appear before China that we are weak because of internal strife and disunity, adding already to our weak military position,” Tugna pointed out.
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JPE: Chinese intel officers aided Trillanes in Beijing
By Christina Mendez
The Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday that intelligence officers of the People’s Republic of China’s Liberation Army helped Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in establishing contacts in Beijing while he was supposedly doing backdoor negotiations with China with the blessings of President Aquino.
Malacañang, meanwhile, said it has no idea whether Trillanes’ reported 16 meetings with Beijing officials were indeed authorized and paid for by the government.
“I understand that his channel that he developed is the intel service of the Chinese embassy, which is actually the representative of the Chinese military. The PROC Armed Forces, the Liberation Army of China, as you know, that is an institution that actually governs China,” Enrile told STAR columnist, former Senate president Ernesto Maceda in his radio program at dzRJ.
Enrile said Trillanes’ closeness with top members of the Chinese military bolsters his theory that the senator could be walking a treasonous line during his backdoor talks with China on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) dispute.
“If he is indeed, close to the intel service of China, you can go in and out of China, that gives you the reason to understand why he was saying that the Filipinos are not interested in Scarborough Shoal,” he added.
More than meets the eye
Trillanes, in a separate interview, has accused Enrile of lying and reminded the people how the former defense minister supposedly faked his own ambush to justify the imposition of martial law during the Marcos era.
He denied that there were some business considerations in his negotiations with China.
“My mission is to diffuse the tension,” Trillanes said.
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Enrile revealed that during one of his visits in Beijing, Trillanes went with some businessmen of Chinese descent.
He said he will verify reports that Trillanes also had the backing of trader Domingo Lee, who was rejected by the Commission on Appointments as the country’s envoy to China.
“He called the President while he was seated alongside Ambassador Fu Yin,” Enrile said.
He also questioned Trillanes for pushing a bilateral approach on the China issue as against the position of the President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, who are pushing for a multilateral position that includes other claimants in the region.
Enrile also noted that the Aquino administration’s line is to involve the country’s allies, apparently referring to the United States, in dealing with China.
‘His word against mine’
He said Trillanes does not deserve to be a senator and he has no plans of mending his severed ties with him.
However, other senators wanted the two of them to patch up their differences.
Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. said he is saddened by the latest developments in the Senate and expressed hope that the good relationship between the two senators can still be restored.
Both Enrile and Revilla have denied that former President and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called them to fast-track the passage of the measure on Camarines Sur.
But in another interview, Trillanes maintained that another senator confirmed to him that Mrs. Arroyo indeed tried to exert effort for the passage of the Camsur bill.
“I know my facts. They have to take my word for it or they would have to take JPE’s word for it,” he said.
Holding on
Enrile said he is not keen on punishing Trillanes for his attack last Wednesday but the latter would be stripped of his chairmanship of the oversight committee “to save the Senate some P10 million.”
Since Trillanes has joined the minority, he will also be removed of his seat on the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
But the former Navy officer maintained that he is not giving up his committees because he is entitled to it.
Keeping its distance
Meanwhile, the Palace is keeping its distance from the Trillanes-Enrile squabble.
The Aquino government also issued an appeal to the media that former ambassador to China Sonia Brady, who is back home after suffering from a stroke last month, recover first from her illness before she gets interviewed regarding the notes Enrile made public.
Malacañang professed innocence on the so-called “Brady notes” that Enrile read before the Senate last week, details of which have not been confirmed either by Brady herself or by the Aquino government.
The Aquino administration nonetheless maintained its position over ownership of Panatag Shoal, which is well within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone and part of the West Philippine Sea territory.
“The position has always remained the same that we intend to pursue a peaceful resolution through all diplomatic channels. We have the diplomatic track, the legal track, we also have the political track,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said, emphasizing that this is the three-tiered approach the Philippine government is adopting with China.
“When it comes to that particular incident in Bajo de Masinloc, our commitment really is first to resolve it through diplomatic means and, second, to refrain from doing anything that will tend to raise tensions,” she explained.
“It’s still a policy of de-escalation. The position has remained the same.”
– With Delon Porcalla
