This was just one of the barbs that Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile let fly in his privilege speech on Wednesday, wherein he addressed his "bitter and obsessive hater" who had accused him of being the part of the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam. Though he didn't say her name during his entire speech, it was obvious that Enrile was referring to Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who had earlier accused him of masterminding the pork barrel scam.
It may be recalled that during the November 7 Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing involving alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, Santiago had made several comments about Enrile. In an interview with reporters, Santiago had referred to Enrile as the "grandfather of the pork barrel scam." She had also quipped, "May asim pa rin si Tanda" as a warning-of-sorts to Napoles.
Calling her accusations against him the "imaginings of a spiteful and bitterly hostile mind," Enrile denied being the mastermind of the scam. He also countered Santiago's "asim" quote with his own: "Sinabi ng Senadora na ako ay may asim pa. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanyang sinabi, pero ikinalulungkot kong sabihin hindi ako naasiman sa kanya."
He went on to address the rest of her accusations and, at one point, he got personal as he referred to Santiago's bar exam grade of 76. "That I am the mastermind of the pork barrel scam is an outright and baseless lie, fabricated by an inane mind. This former judge does not understand due process. Due process means you hear first the evidence before you condemn. Now I know why she nearly flunked the bar exams. A parrot can memorize legal principles, but cannot apply them," he said.
Aside from accusing Enrile of being the brains behind the pork scam, Santiago had also earlier alleged that he was the financier of the standoff in Zamboanga City between government troops and Nur Misuari faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Enrile said he doesn't know for sure why Santiago is "so obsessive and bitter," but he thinks there are two events that could've triggered her "deep-seated animosity" against him—his opposition on her confirmation as Secretary of Agrarian Reform in 1989 and his refusal to include her in the majority block in the Senate in 2008 and 2010.
Enrile revealed that he had wanted to address accusations against him to defend his "personal honor" earlier, but he postponed his privilege speech out of respect to victims of Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas.
Enrile, along with Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., are among 38 respondents in the Justice department's plunder complaint before the Ombudsman in relation to the scam, wherein lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) were purportedly funneled to bogus non-government organizations involved in ghost projects.
While maintaining his innocence, Enrile has stressed his willingness to help the Ombudsman bring the perpetrators of the multi-billion scam to justice.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is scheduled to file the second batch of plunder cases in connection to the pork scam later this week. Meanwhile, Santiago will reportedly address Enrile's statements in her own privilege speech next Wednesday, Dec. 4.