President Duterte says “one of these days, maybe the Filipino people should demand the truth”
(Eagle News) – Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile questioned the back-channeling talks done by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with China in 2012 on the Scarborough stand-off, saying Trillanes’ close connection with Chinese officials should be looked into.
Enrile, 97, who had also served as Defense Minister for over 14 years during the administration of the late President Marcos, said Trillanes’ close ties with China was a “mystery” that should be probed.
Trillanes’ back channeling with China in 2012 – from May to September that year – had been criticized by no less than Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario then.
-Trillanes, in account of back channel talks, blames ex-DFA chief Del Rosario in Scarborough mess-
Trillanes, however, in a previous summary of his backchanneling talks which he said was authorized by former President Benigno Aquino Jr., blamed Del Rosario, saying the former DFA chief was the one who directed the withdrawal of the Philippine ships without Aquino’s go-signal. Trillanes put on paper what happened during his backchanneling talks with China. (Editor’s note: This was eventually uploaded on Scribd, a US e-book subscription service by Vera Files, an online news organization in the Philippines, in 2019. The account can be read in full and viewed publicly)
account on the back channel talks in 2012
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV S… by VERA Files
-Enrile puzzled why Trillanes can talk to China “higher-ups”-
Enrile, on May 17, told Duterte that Trillanes connection with China was “mysterious.”
“Siguro kailangan malaman natin kung si — saan ba nanggaling ‘yong koneksyon ni Trillanes sa Beijing? Paano siya nagkaroon ng koneksyon doon? Ni mismo ako naging guest ako ng Beijing, wala akong koneksyon na kagaya ni Trillanes. Paano siya nagka – — nagkaroon ng koneksyon na ganoon na puwede niyang lapitan ang mga pinuno ng Tsina noong panahon na ‘yon?” the former Marcos defense chief noted.
“Pati si Presidente Aquino palagay ko wala siyang ganoong koneksyon. Bakit si Trillanes ay nagkaroon ng koneksyon na ganoon? Iyon ang isang misteryo na hanggang ngayon dapat malaman kung anong kasagutan,” he said.
President Duterte commented that developments then surrounding the Scarborough incident in 2012 under then President Aquino was a “64 dollar question to everybody.” He also wondered why Trillanes was chosen by Aquino to do the backchanneling talks with China.
“You know, I do not demean or belittle our Armed Forces. Ang akin lang, sir, it is really a wonder to me why, of course it’s only President Aquino who can answer this, why he chose a military man to do the backchanneling? And the problem is it was so — so secretive almost a sub rosa type of negotiation that was kept secret. Now, you can name the people do the — you can — we can insist on knowing the people pero ‘yong tataguan mo, sir, iyong anong developments doon and this is really my sixty-four-dollar question to everybody,” Duterte said during his latest Talk to the Nation on May 17 where he invited Enrile to shed light on the South China Sea issue.
Enrile replied: “The mystery, Mr. President, to me was: Why Trillanes and not someone else?”
“Why? Why Trillanes? Of the senators who were incumbent at the time, why was Trillanes selected as the negotiator for Aquino?” said Enrile who was a senator in 2012.
“And where did Trillanes get the influence over some authorities in Beijing in those days?”
President Duterte observed that Trillanes travelled to China 16 times, and that two days after his 16th visit, “we lost Scarborough Shoal.”
Enrile repeated his puzzlement on how Trillanes was able to talk to the “higher-ups in China.”
“Maybe he should explain to the nation how he got that kind of an influence to be able to reach out to the higher-ups in China. Not just anybody can talk to any member of the Politburo of China. He must have been a very influential person in China to be able to do his work as he did. And how did he acquire that influence? That is a mystery to me, Mr. President.” he said to Duterte.
The President said that the truth about this should come out.
“So with me, sir, I would say. So dapat one of these days, maybe the Filipino people should demand the truth,” he said.
-Trillanes claims he accomplished his mission in backchannel talks’ summary-
Trillanes, based on his own account of what happened during his backchannel talks in 2012, published in the Scribd platform, said he was asked by Aquino’s former Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. to “help open a back channel with China.”
He said that he was able to establish connections with government officials in China during his “study visit” in Beijing in November 2011.
This was how Trillanes recounted it in his “Summary of the Backchannel Talks (12 May to 16 August 2012)” that was uploaded on Scribd in 2019. His account of his backchannel talks was also quoted by Rigoberto Tiglao, the former Press Secretary of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in his column published on Nov. 12, 2018 at the Manila Times.
“During the first week of May 2012, while in a meeting with Executive Secretary Ochoa, therising tensions in the Scarborough Shoal was brought up and he asked if I could help open aback channel with China because there was an impasse in the formal track of the DFA. I told him that I could reconnect with some government officials in Beijing, which I establishedduring my study visit there last November 2011. However, I specifically requested that itshould be authorized by the President. ES Ochoa then told me that he would take care of itand that PNoy would probably approve it since, at that time, PNoy had already called forFilipino-Chinese tycoons and asked for their help in finding a line to Beijing. The status quothen, more or less, was: China had 31 fishing boats and around 50 dinghies inside the shoaland 10 Chinese Maritime Surveillance (CMS) vessels positioned at the vicinity outside of theshoal; while we had 2 Coast Guard (PCG) vessels positioned just outside the shoal and 1 BFARvessel inside the shoal.”
-14 backchannel meetings-
Trillanes, at the end of his five-page account of his backchannel talks, claimed he was able to accomplish his mission. He said he had 14 backchannel meetings, and 7 of these were in China.
“In all, I had around 14 backchannel meetings, 7 of which were held in China while 7 were held in Manila. By the end of the backchannel talks, there was no more standoff in the shoal thus, the tension has dissipated. Mission accomplished,” Trillanes wrote.
(Eagle News Service)