Tergiversation Technique: The Juan Ponce Enrile-antonio Trillanes Iv Feud

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that if a suspect evades the accusations against him or her, it is an indication of guilt. This indication of guilt becomes stronger when the person diverges the issue by attacking the accuser of his or her own crimes that are not connected to the issue. Chances are, the accuser is afraid of having his own skeletons in his closets exposed so he will back out and retract the accusations. This is the tergiversation technique.

 

The Tergiversation Technique

One of the major reasons why some people, when accused, use the tergiversation technique

is simply explained by the saying "more talk, more mistake". However, if the accused simply keeps quiet, allegations of being guilty will become stronger. What the accused can do aside from keeping silence, which means neither admitting nor denying the accusation, is to attack the accuser and lead controversy into a different direction. The accused must look for the biggest loophole or the biggest hidden skeleton in the closet of the accuser. The accuser must have a hidden crime that is bigger than the accusations against the accused. If successfully done, the accuser will become the accused. Thus, before making any accusation, the accuser should make sure that he or she has no hidden guilt himself or herself which the accused can use against him or her.

 

How Enrile Used the Tergiversation Technique Against Trillanes

The accuser: Antonio Trillanes IV (a

novice senator)
The accused: Juan Ponce Enrile (the veteran senator)
The accusation: Enrile approved the Camarines Sur bill due to the former president Gloria Arroyo's urging, which will be in favor of the political plans of the latter's son, Dato Arroyo, who is a reelectionist representative of Camarines Sur. This is why Trillanes called Enrile a lackey of Arroyo (the Mom, of course).
The tergiversation: Enrile brought up the back-channelling currently being done by Trillanes regarding the territorial disputes between the Philippines and China.
The accuser's response: In general, Trillanes kept his silence and insisted that this issue involves confidential information. However, it was confirmed that the secret negotiation done by Trillanes with the Chinese politburos has the blessing of Pres. Noynoy Aquino.
Conclusion: While the CamSur Bill and the Chinese-Philippines territorial dispute are both about territory, they are not exactly related. The majority of the Philippine citizenry are surely in sympathy with the novice senator. Again, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that Enrile neither confirmed nor denied the accusations of Trillanes, and instead, brought up Trillanes's confidential negotiations in an attempt to redirect the Filipinos' heads.