SENATE Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile branded President Benigno Aquino III’s administration as a “three-day presidency,” noting its slow action on pressing matters like the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato and the alleged laundering of $81-million stolen funds into the Philippine financial system.
Enrile made the remark when asked during a weekly forum at the Senate yesterday about the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) handling of the money-laundering scheme, which is being investigated by the Senate blue ribbon committee.
“My God, they are sleeping! This is a three-day presidency e. Three days sa Mamasapano, three days sa ‘Yolanda’ three days… three days sila umaksyon, ganun din sa Kidapawan (Three days during Mamasapano, three days during Yolanda… It took them three days before they acted on these matters. It also happened in the Kidapawan incident),” he said.
The senator was referring to the botched Mamasapano operation on January 25 last year that left 44 elite policemen and several others dead, the Supertyphoon Yolanda in November 2013 that hit parts of the country and claimed thousands of lives and the recent violent dispersal of Kidapawan farmers that left three dead and dozens injured.
On the Kidapawan incident, Enrile said the president could have acted immediately to prevent the violent dispersal of the farmers.