Arroyo denies call to Enrile over CamSur bill

THE camp of Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo denied that the former leader made a phone call to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to railroad a bill seeking to divide the Camarines Sur province.

"No. She never called nor talked to JPE [Enrile] about it," Elena Bautista-Horn, Arroyo's spokesperson, said in a text message Thursday.

In his privilege speech on Wednesday, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV accused Enrile of being "lackey" of Arroyo for pushing the approval of House Bill 4820, a proposal seeking to divide Camarines Sur into two provinces.

"With this totally unexpected twist, everything seemed to fall into place. There remain only two possibilities: that our Senate President is deeply indebted to GMA [Arroyo] or that he is a GMA lackey," he said.

The charge, however, was immediately denied by the Senate leader, calling the young senator a "fraud" and a "fifth columnist" or a traitor.

"We are deeply saddened that her name is being dragged again into another controversy and this time being wrongly used to sow disrespect to a venerable and independent institution like the Senate," Horn said in a separate statement.
 
The spokesperson said the priority of Arroyo, a former President, is her health and her constituents in the second district of Pampanga.
 
House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez earlier said that Arroyo's weight has dropped to 88 pounds. The former President continues to attend her thrice a week physical therapy at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
 
Following the rare clash at the Senate floor, Trillanes bolted the majority, saying he has "lost trust, faith and confidence in Senator Enrile's capability to lead the Senate."

Meanwhile, legislators opposed to the proposal believe that creating a new province of Nueva Camarines in the Bicol region would only benefit political families in the region.

One of them is Camarines Sur Representative Diosdado "Dato" Arroyo, a son of the former President. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)