A P1.45-million bail restored Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s freedom, albeit temporary, and faith in the Philippine justice system.
Enrile was freed on Thursday night after posting at the Sandiganbayan a P1-million bail for plunder and P450,000 bail for his 15 counts of graft.
“My faith in the probity and justness of our judiciary has been vindicated. I will go back to my work and serve no interest except the interest of the country,” the senator said.
Enrile said he also plans to visit Sen. José Pimentel Ejército Jr. (Jinggoy Estrada) at Camp Crame.
Enrile, martial-law enforcer for the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was the third lawmaker arrested in connection with a P10-billion pork-barrel scam.
Ejercito, together with Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center inside Camp Crame in Quezon City. They were arrested after the Office of the Ombudsman said they took undue advantage of their official position to illegally divert, in connivance with certain respondents, their respective pork-barrel allocations to the so-called non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operated by Janet Lim Napoles, in exchange for “kickbacks” or commissions. The commissions amounted to P242 million for Revilla and P138 million for Ejercito, according to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman said Enrile illegally allotted more than P172 million of his pork barrel to bogus NGOs of Napoles.
Republic Act 7080, or the Plunder law, provides that a public official can be charged with the nonbailable offense of plunder if he “amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt criminal acts” an aggregate amount or total value of at least P50 million.
Enrile’s lawyer Joseph Sagandoy said in a statement the senator “immediately post[ed] the required bail so he can again actively perform his duties and responsibilities as a senator.”
“[His plunder case] will practically go back to square one since the Supreme Court [SC] also granted his motion for bill of particulars last week,” Sagandoy said.
“The prosecution will have to amend the information against him or provide the required details and particulars of the charges against him. Otherwise, the case may be dismissed,” he added.
The SC has granted the bail petition of Enrile for humanitarian reasons.