Reyes to Enrile : Worse kind of betrayal : Crassus and JPE

This morning as I woke up and read the news the statement of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile’s former chief of staff and once trusted aide Gigi Reyes surfaced in the news. It initially surfaced in Facebook and so far:

It has been vetted by ABS-CBN as authentic and with permission published it in full.

Rappler has come out and clarified certain points about the story – for one saying that the lawyer of the whistle blowers Levito Baligod hails from Tuao, Cagayan, supposedly a bailiwick of Enrile’s political rivals.

Could this be start of the fall Juan Ponce Enrile? Whose life mirrors that of the Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus. Whose life was dramatized in the film Spartacus by Sir Laurence Olivier. Crassus was said to be the most richest man in Rome. One of the men of the Roman Dictator Sulla, Crassus became famous for breaking the slave revolt of Spartacus. Along with Pompey Magnus and with Julius Caesar as junior partner they formed the first triumvirate – Crassus and Pompey were co-Consuls of the Roman Republic. It was said Crassus earned his wealth from real estate speculation during Sulla’s dictatorship and it was also said Crassus financed the political career of Caesar. At the end of his Consulship he became the Governor of Syria and planned a campaign against the Parthians – for gold and glory. He was defeated at the Battle of Carrhae. Crassus was killed while negotiating a surrender with the Parthians. It is said that the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat: his head was used by actors during a Royal wedding and a play; and one of his soldiers who resembled him was made to wear woman’s clothes and paraded in a mock Triumph – a ridicule to Crassus lust for gold and glory.

Both JPE and Crassus were former men of Dictators of the Republic. Both JPE and Crassus are the richest men of the Republic, Both JPE and Crassus are acknowledge as powerful politicians in their Republics.

Will both share similar fate?

Will the Pork Barrel Scandal and what seemed to be falling out with Gigi Reyes be his undoing?

Does the Crassus of the Philippine Republic fear that the day of the pouring of molten gold and mock Triumph is coming at last?

Anyway here is the statement of Gigi Reyes: The Worst Kind of Betrayal
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/09/21/13/nothing-can-be-worse-kind-betrayal

(Jessica ‘Gigi’ Reyes, former chief of staff of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, has issued a statement on the pork barrel scam via a Facebook post which ABS-CBN News has confirmed to be authentic. We are publishing it with permission. — Eds.)

I left the country last August 31 to seek some peace and quiet amid the barrage of adverse and downright insulting publicity and commentary against me in the mainstream and social media.

I and my family have been deeply disturbed and hurt by the continuous slanted and patently biased reportage regarding my alleged involvement in the so-called “10-Billion PDAF scam.” Strangers and some elements from the media have attempted to get to our residence pretending to be my relatives.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, in particular, has been especially cruel. Even as I tried to answer in all candor and honesty the texted questions of its reporter, Norman Bordadora, the PDI maliciously twisted my reply. The next day, due to my protestations over such misrepresentation, all the PDI could do was to issue a tiny “erratum”, claiming that the omission was a “clerical error.”

Among the private individuals apart from Ms. Janet Napoles who are being implicated in the investigation of the PDAF anomalies, it is apparent that the PDI and several other media outlets have trained their focus on me. In fact, in just one newscast, ABS-CBN flashed my photograph four times.

The PDI evidently has an ax to grind against me. I say so because in a private dinner in Rockwell a few months back where I accompanied my former boss, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, PDI Editor-in-Chief Mrs. Letty Jimenez Magsanoc openly told us about her deep personal hurt over the Senator’s published “Memoirs” which recounted the beginnings of the PDI and what she called the “unfair” portrayal of Ms. Eugenia “Eggie” Apostol.

True enough, THE WORST BLOW HAS JUST BEEN DEALT UPON ME BY NO LESS THAN THE CAMP OF SENATOR JUAN PONCE ENRILE- THE MAN I SERVED WITH FULL DEDICATION, HONESTY AND LOYALTY FOR 25 YEARS.

A certain Atty. Enrique dela Cruz has been doing the media rounds saying that Senator Enrile did not give his blessings to any of the acts I performed on his behalf. He directly accused me of doing things without the Senator’s knowledge and going beyond the authority conferred upon me. Not content, Atty. dela Cruz goes on to say that the office of the Senator was investigating me for what he calls “katiwalian”, and that I, NOT THE SENATOR, will be liable.

I have lost contact with Senator Enrile and this very tragic development is beyond my comprehension. Does this Atty. dela Cruz REALLY know whereof he speaks? Really?

The last time I spoke to the Senator from abroad, he maintained that he will stand by the authority he issued to me and that all that I did was faithful and pursuant to his instructions. He even told me to be strong; that we will fight together to prove the accusations against us are false and fabricated.

I never once thought that this day would come. I never stepped on anyone’s toes nor abused my position in all the years I served in the Senate. But I have earned the bitter ire and enmity of some people by and large because and in defense of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

IF INDEED THESE STATEMENTS ARE SANCTIONED BY OR COMING FROM MY FORMER BOSS, THEN NOTHING CAN BE WORSE THAN THIS KIND OF TRAVESTY AND BETRAYAL.

Before I left, I had already engaged the services of my legal counsel to prepare for my defense because as things stood, it was a foregone conclusion that I would be included in the complaint long bruited about by Atty. Levito Baligod. Atty. Baligod interestingly hails from Tuao, Cagayan Province- the stronghold of the Enriles’ political adversaries in local politics.

I have yet to confront my accusers and the supposed “evidence” against me. I have every intention to defend myself, my name and my honor and to acquit myself of all the baseless charges and blatant lies being spread about me and those contained in perjured affidavits of so-called whistle-blowers.

I grieve at how all the dirt, harsh judgment, blame and vicious publicity heaped upon me has besmirched my family and the good honor and memory of my late father, Pat H. Gonzales, former editor-in-chief of the Manila Bulletin, and that of my late father-in-law, Ambassador Vicente G. Reyes.

There may be no saints among us and I do not profess to be one. Yet, as it has been in all of human history, it is easy for sinners to cast stones.

I have faith in GOD and my fate rests solely in His Hands and in His Divine Mercy.