MANILA, Philippines – “Let them decide.”
This was the response of former Senate President now Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Sandiganbayan to proceed with the trial for the plunder case filed against him.
Enrile said the case has been going on for over a decade yet no evidence has been presented to him.
“Until now, they are not deciding. Mahigit 10 taon na ‘yan, walang ebidensya na ipini-presenta sa akin,” he told the media in an interview on Wednesday.
Just last February, the Supreme Court dismissed Enrile’s petition for prohibition.
Back in 2014, a plunder complaint was filed by the Ombudsman against the then senator, his former chief of staff Jessica Reyes, businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and others over the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.
The PDAF, otherwise known as “pork barrel” is a legislator’s discretionary money used to fund bogus non-government organizations.
According to the complaint, Enrile and others had amassed P172 million from PDAF from 2004 to 2010.
On July 10, 2014, before the Sandiganbayan 3rd Division, Enrile filed for a bill of particulars which will allow an accused to request for specific details from the prosecution to help prepare for the trial.
The anti-graft court denied Enrile’s motion but was overturned by the high court in an August 11, 2015 decision.
In 2022, Enrile filed a petition to the Supreme Court to dismiss his plunder case on the merit that prosecution’s evidence must be limited to the bill of particulars.
The high court dismissed his petition on the merit that the prosecution should not be limited only to what is stated in the bill of particulars.
Given this, the court said barring the Sandiganbayan from proceeding with the trial was not necessary.
