Supreme Court allows Sen. Enrile to post bail

Manila: The Supreme Court allowed Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to post bail, giving him temporary freedom while the plunder case filed against him is heard. He allegedly misused his congressional development fund — allotted yearly — for personal benefit.

Supreme Court justices voted eight — four and granted Enrile bail, Supreme Court spokesman Ted Te said on Tuesday.

Apex Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Associate Justices Estela Perlas Bernabe and Marivic Leonon were against the ruling.

The decision was made in response to Enrile’s petition that was filed on September 4, 2014, in which he argued that he is not a flight risk because he voluntarily surrendered to the Sandiganbayan, a government anti-graft court, where the complaint filed against him. The alleged misuse of P200 million (Dh15 million) from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) resulted in his imprisonment that year.

Enrile, 91, also said the Supreme Court should grant his request because of his advanced age.

The High Court’s decision reversed lower courts’ judicial practice not to grant bail to those who are accused of corruption.

After Senator Enrile posts bail, he will leave the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital where he is being held, and return to the senate, said his lawyer.

Enrile has already served the Sandiganbayan’s 90-day suspension that was imposed on him last September 25, 2014, the lawyer added.

Whistleblowers had identified Enrile as a recipient of 40 per cent of the PDAF that he allowed to be released to non-existing projects that were supposed to be implemented by non-functioning nongovernment agencies that were established by a private businesswoman, Janet Napoles.

Senators Ramon Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada were also arrested for alleged misuse of development funds.

Enrile, Revilla, and Estrada denied the allegations, adding they were singled out by the justice department because of politics and a “selective sense of justice”.

Cases against other senators and congressmen, including allies of President Benigno Aquino, who were allegedly involved in misuse of development funds, were not yet filed, the three senators complained.

Whistleblowers said their list included 80 per cent of the country’s lawmakers. A congressman at the House of Representatives has a yearly allotment of P75 million in the development fund.

Thousands of people held rallies when the scandal, involving lawmakers who defrauded P10 billion worth of public funds, was revealed.

In November 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that allocation of PDAF for lawmakers in the national budget was unconstitutional.

PDAF was originally called Countrywide Development Fund, when it was established during the administration of former president Corazon Aquino in 1990.