Miriam in 'heart attack mode' after Enrile-Trillanes debate

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who is on sick leave for chronic fatigue, said she went into "heart attack mode" after a debate on the Senate floor between Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Antonio Trillanes IV.

In a statement on Thursday, Santiago said she went into “heart attack mode” when Enrile cited an allegedly “anachronistic provision of the Constitution, with Enrile completely clueless about its limitations.”

The feisty senator was referring to the debate last Tuesday between Enrile and Trillanes on the move of Manila Water and Maynilad to pass on to consumers their income taxes and other expenses. 

Santiago's staff said that when the senator learned of the debate, she happened to be wearing a Holter monitor, which cardiologists use to indicate the frequency and duration of cardiac rhythm disturbances.

The Enrile-Trillanes debate involved the provision in the Bill of Rights stating: "No law impairing the obligation of contract shall be passed."

Enrile called this provision as "one of the most sacred provisions of the Bill of Rights," and strongly opposed a Senate probe on the water concessionaires.

 Santiago, however,  said Enrile is "blissfully ignorant of the law" and cited a Supreme Court ruling that states the limitation of the provision cited by Enrile.

“The impairment clause is now no longer inviolate; in fact, there are many who now believe it is an anachronism in present-day society... These agreements have come within the embrace of the police power," said the ruling cited by Santiago.

Santiago traced this police power limitation on the so-called "contract clause" or "impairment clause" as far back as 60 years ago. She even cited other SC rulings that prevail over the contract provision.

“The Enrile speech was an egregious example of ignorance of the law, used as a tool to bludgeon the heads of non-lawyers. I am very disappointed that none of the lawyers in the majority coalition to which I belong stood up to unmask Enrile’s ignorance,” Santiago said.

Santiago claimed that Enrile was merely engaging in "bluffing and bullying" Trillanes, who is not a lawyer.

She added that the bullying constitutes a violation of Senate rules.

“Under the Senate Rules, that kind of boasting and self-praise at the expense of another senator who is a non-lawyer, constitutes unparliamentary language because it offends Sen. Trillanes and the Senate as a whole,” she said.