Miriam, Ping resume word war

MANILA, Philippines - The campaign may be heating up but the most bitter of exchanges are between two senators not running in May.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Sen. Panfilo Lacson resumed their word war over Senate funds, particularly the P2 million in Christmas bonuses from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last December.

She lashed out her colleagues who have not returned the bonus.

Santiago also berated senatorial candidates who, she said, are engaged in the “orgies of self-praise” and lacking of a real campaign platform to eradicate corruption in the country.

“Be very careful with these rallies, they are sometimes orgies of self-praise or are a narration of the romantic fantasies of people who have never gotten their hands free of corruption. Corrupt people are powerful because they do not have conscience in getting money. When you fight them, all they do is buy the media and use them to destroy you,” she said.

Santiago vowed anew to fight the culture of corruption in the country, saying she is not afraid of her political enemies.

“Our life is short... so that is why I am not afraid to die, even if they kill my character... they can indulge in character assassination. Even if they kill me physically, I will return and haunt them, just watch,” Santiago said in mixed English and Filipino.

She said a good leader should be somebody who “inspires” the Filipinos through a shared destiny and vision.

Irked by the series of attacks, Lacson described Santiago as mentally unstable and herself corrupt.

“The thing is, I won’t start a fight with anybody as I did not initiate this quarrel with her; neither will I turn my back,” Lacson said in a text message to reporters.

Campaign vs corruption

Santiago also advised those who are attending political rallies to be wary of re-electionist senators when they vote in May. She said no one among those running for the Senate have put corruption in their platforms.

“There is no other problem in the Philippines except for the problem of corruption by the top leaders of this very same country. That is the main problem,” she said.

Santiago said some candidates are only full of promises. “You should ask them this person who makes all those promises,” she said.

In the process, she cited as example Enrile’s move to give out the extra bonuses to selected members of the Senate.

“Not a single senator returned their cash. Is that the kind of senator who you want to be elected anew?” Santiago remarked.

“What is this? A conspiracy of silence against the Filipino people. Nobody else speaks up at the Senate on my point that if money comes from the national treasury, that money should go to the people, especially the poorest of the Filipino poor, “ she said. “Nobody should get that money for themselves.”

Santiago continued her tirades against Enrile, accusing him of being the kind of leader who allows smuggling at a port - referring to Port Irene in Cagayan.

“He is not contented with himself. Now he has a junior (who is running for election). Now, he is lambasting me when I returned the money,”  Santiago said. 

Enrile’s son, Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile is running as a senatorial hopeful under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Santiago turned her guns on another senator - a former police general - that has been questioning her move to rent office space at a family-owned building.