Palace: Up to Trillanes to explain himself

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is distancing itself from the statements of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, leaving him to answer questions about his back-channel talks with China.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said yesterday that it would be best for officials in the executive department to withhold comment on foreign affairs because “diplomacy is better conducted away from media.”

“That’s what we intend to do. I mean, let the official channels – (Foreign Affairs) Secretary (Albert) del Rosario – we have done this in the past, whenever there’s a pronouncement or any issue governing foreign policy, we would always defer to the Department of Foreign Affairs, to the spokesperson, to Secretary Del Rosario. We will maintain the same position in this case,” Lacierda said.

He also denied that Del Rosario was demoralized and was planning to resign because the President allowed Trillanes to do back-channel talks without informing him.

He said the Palace appealed to Trillanes not to make any further comments about the China affairs.

However, the word war between him and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in media interviews continued yesterday.

“I don’t know what prompted him to speak out again on this issue with Secretary Del Rosario. But we will not wish to make any comment anymore on that,” Lacierda said.

He said Aquino and Trillanes have not talked yet to settle the issue, and it would be up to the latter to answer questions on his travel expenses that were supposedly paid for by the Palace, his alleged connections with the Chinese intelligence community, as well as lack of coordination with the Senate.

He said he could not answer whether Trillanes would still be included in the administration’s senatorial slate after his apparent diplomatic gaffe, and will leave the issue to party officials.

Trillanes, on the other hand, said he is ready to face the consequences of his action, especially that the 2013 election is just around the corner.

No let up

The verbal tussle between the two senators continued yesterday despite Malacañang’s call to stop swapping charges.

Enrile accused the younger senator of being a Chinese spy, comparing him to a certain Rufus Romero who was said to be a spy for Japan.

He said Trillanes has no understanding about protecting the interest of the country and lashed out at him for dragging the President into the issue when he sought permission from the Chief Executive when he was already in China.

Enrile said he had information Trillanes had the backing of military intelligence officers from the Chinese embassy in Manila.

Trillanes, on the other hand, accused Enrile of credit grabbing when he claimed he was responsible for his release, because it was actually President Aquino who granted his amnesty.

He said the veteran senator was mad because he cannot accept that “after all these years somebody was not afraid to stand up to him.”

Diplomatic implications

However, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the misunderstanding between the two lawmakers has placed the country’s diplomatic strategy in jeopardy.

“This is a faux pas in diplomacy by the Philippine government,” she said.

She explained that Trillanes’ cover has been blown as a result of Enrile’s expose on his supposed efforts to back-channel talks for the country in Beijing.

“This is entirely unfortunate because now Sen. Trillanes’ cover has been blown. He can no longer be an effective back-channel negotiator. He may as well be a formal negotiator for the Philippine panel,” Santiago said.

She said Trillanes’ contacts or channels in China “will no longer have the same effectiveness until this was reported out in the Philippine media because the Chinese Communist Party will know the moves of the Philippines in advance.”

“As to whether he was successful as a back-channel operator remains to be seen because even that is now the subject of debate and we don’t even know if, for example, he was responsible or at least partly responsible for the back out of the about 30 ships there, leaving only two or three,” Santiago said.

On the so-called Brady notes made public by Enrile, Santiago raised a question on how the Senate President got hold of these notes when such are “always confidential” in nature.

“The question is, why did the Senate President obtain a copy of that report which is not meant for him and how did he manage to do that? That must never be revealed!” Santiago said, explaining that the report was written for the eyes of the secretary of foreign affairs and he has the discretion to report them to the President or not.

“The public is not supposed to know about these notes, because diplomacy has always been conducted sub rosa. There’s a difference between the relationship that ought to be and the relationship as it actually is,” she explained.

Because of the political bickerings, Santiago said the Chinese government is “enjoying the show” and “now they are planning how to maximize it.”

Intricacies of negotiations

Meanwhile, Jesus Dureza, a former negotiator with Moro rebels during the Ramos and Arroyo administrations, said the controversy could have been avoid and the image of the country protected had the back-channel talks been handled properly.

Dureza said usually, the one tasked to do the back channel work is someone that is fully trusted by the President and has the goodwill and credibility of the other party.

He said “back-channel work” is normal in foreign diplomacy, politics, negotiations, and in almost all levels of statecraft, local or foreign.

The dangers of such back door talks is when the official channel is kept out of the loop, and the one in charge of it would feel slighted that he or she was not trusted by the President, according to Dureza.

He said the choice of the unofficial envoy is also crucial as he or she must be acceptable and must have a previous track record of having earlier contacts.

Dureza recalled that in 2001, shortly after his appointment as chief peace negotiator with the MILF, a high-level delegation flew to Kuala Lumpur to meet their counterparts and was able to secure an agreement with the rebels to resume talks. – Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero