Enrile to prove 8 points vs PNoy | ABS-CBN

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Enrile to prove 8 points vs PNoy

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA - Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said he will prove eight points against President Benigno Aquino III when the Senate reopens on Wednesday its investigation into the January 25, 2015 Mamasapano clash.

Speaking to ANC's "Top Story" on Tuesday, Enrile insisted that Aquino was directly involved in the Special Action Force (SAF) operation, which ended in the deaths of 44 elite police commandos following a clash with Muslim rebels and private armed groups.

Seventeen fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were also killed in the encounter.

According to Enrile, he is not interested in the audio recording a retired police official has claimed will show an attempt to cover up some facts about the encounter.

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"Well, I'm not interested in those things. I have my own material that I will present. I assembled them to be understandable to a layman. I will prove eight points against the President. I will prove eight specifications against the President," Enrile said.

He, however, refused to divulge further details, only saying that his material will show what Aquino did and did not do as the President of the Philippines.

"These things were not taken up in the hearings. The materials were in front of them, but they did not understand the whole thing," he said.

"Tomorrow, I will unfold it," he added.

Enrile nonetheless said he is still open to hearing new information from other resource persons, including retired Chief Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

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Valeroso allegedly has a digital audio recording of a conversation between a high-ranking government official and a legislator that occurred a day or two after the clash.

Valeroso said that based on the conversation, one of them was telling the other not to mind what happened in Mamasapano as it may delay the ongoing peace talks between the government and the MILF.

Duterte, meanwhile, said he was with the President in Zamboanga City when the Mamasapano encounter occurred on January 25 last year.

"The people have a right to know whether their highest leader was fit to exercise his powers," said Enrile. "All I promise is that I have materials to establish the role of the President."

The President earlier said he believes the reopening of the probe was politically-motivated, alluding to Enrile, who sought the reopening of the probe.

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Enrile is one of the three senators facing plunder and graft charges over the multi-billion-peso pork barrel scam. He was in detention when the Senate conducted a series of hearings into the Mamasapano encounter.

"I am not doing this for anything. I am doing this for the country, for the people," Enrile said.

GAPS IN PROBE VS BINAY

Meanwhile, Enrile said he saw "many gaps" in the testimonies of Vice President Jejomar Binay's accusers, former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado and lawyer Renato Bondal, in the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee's investigation into corruption allegations against the former Makati City mayor.

It was the first time for Enrile to attend the hearing, and he said both Mercado and Bondal failed to show the connection of the alleged ill-gotten wealth to Binay.

He said the two can only point to Binay's alleged dummies, which include suspected "bagman" Gerardo Limlingan, but not to the Vice President himself.

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"Of course, you can generate suspicion, but suspicion is not proof. You have to establish every step of the movement of wealth, from one person to another," Enrile said.

"I'm not prejudging the case, but there are many gaps," he added. "I'm just pointing out that there are clouds, there are very thick clouds to be cleared."

He said he is hoping that these "clouds" will be reflected in the final report of the Senate panel.

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