Abad denies Liberal Party hand in coup plot vs Enrile

LIBERAL Party (LP) stalwart and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad denied Friday his party's hand in the rumored plot to unseat Senator Juan Ponce Enrile as Senate President.

Abad, a former LP president, said Enrile remains an ally of President Benigno Aquino III.

"It (coup plot) is absolutely not true," he said. "In the first place, why would we do that to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who has proven to be a reliable ally of the President? That is simply preposterous."

Enrile said in a television interview that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has been linking Abad on the coup plot against him.

He said he was told by a religious leader, whom he refused to identify, that Trillanes bragged about Abad "authorizing" the move to oust him.

The senior lawmaker dismissed the idea of Abad being behind the coup plot, citing his friendship to the budget chief.

"He did not realize Butch is a good friend of mine. I did not give any credence to that. I knew that he was talking hot air. He (Trillanes) was boasting," Enrile said.

Trillanes earlier admitted being behind the coup plot against Enrile, calling the senior lawmaker as bully and lackey of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Other LP officials earlier denied the ruling party's involvement in the rumored coup plot against Enrile.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., LP vice chairman, said the ruling party has no complaints on the leadership of Enrile and Aquino "owes a lot" to the senior senator on the way he handled the impeachment proceedings against former Chief Justice Renato.

Enrile's other colleagues in the Senate also dismissed the coup plot and expressed confidence to his leadership.

Nacionalista Party's Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was also being linked to the ouster move, said the coup plot "makes no sense."

Marcos said he does not see a change in the Senate leadership since the only person who expressed dissatisfaction on Enrile was Trillanes.

Trillanes is a member of NP. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)