'Who's Trillanes' Chinese connection?'

 MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday questioned the "channel" that Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV had developed in China that allowed him to hold back-channel negotiations with Beijing.

In a television interview, Enrile said he is intrigued by Trillanes' Chinese connection since he, who has been in government service since the 1960s, has yet to establish a direct line to China.

"He was criticizing the DFA (during a briefing of Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario). Sabi ko 'sino'ng nagbigay sa iyo ng pahintulot na iyan? Sabi niya, ang President dahil nagprisinta siya na may channel siya na makakatulong.' Ang tanong ko, sino'ng channel? Ano'ng channel? Sino'ng gumagawa ng channel na ito? Ito ba ay matagal nang channel? Ako matagal na sa gobyerno pero wala akong channel sa China," Enrile said.

Enrile also defended his action of revealing  the details of Ambassador to China Sonia Brady's notes during her meeting with Trillanes.

"There's no state secret in this document. It's all about the criticisms of Trillanes of the DFA. This one is a trash; a conversation of a person who pretends to know foreign policy pero hindi niya alam," he said.

Enrile said Trillanes had refused to record his meeting with Brady, but the envoy, being a seasoned diplomat, took notes of their conversation. The document was then submitted to the DFA office in Manila.

In the document, Enrile said Trillanes opined that "no one in the Philippines" cares about Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal, which is the subject of tensions between Manila and Beijing since April. Trillanes also allegedly said that if China wanted to put up some facilities over the disputed territories, they would already have done so.

"Parang spokesman ng China. I think there are questions that would have to be answered. Una, walang report na nakipag-usap siya sa China ng 15 beses. Then, we do not know who established his connection to China," Enrile said.

"I have a suspicion, nabalitaan ko na mayroon siyang kagrupo na gustong makakuha ng $30 billion doon sa $70 billion pledged to [President] Aquino doon sa China," Enrile added.

Malacañang had said Aquino has asked Trillanes to refrain from making any further comments about the matter to the media.