JPE: I committed no crime

MANILA, Philippines - Saying he had not committed any crime, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday pleaded not guilty to charges of graft filed against him and several others before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the pork barrel fund scam.

Arraigned with Enrile were his former chief of staff Jessica “Gigi” Reyes, businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and 18 of their co-accused in the multiple graft cases.

“Your Honor, I plead not guilty. I have not committed any crime,” the 90-year-old lawmaker told magistrates of the anti-graft court’s Third Division after he was asked to respond to the first graft complaint.

Enrile listened intently as all 15 graft charges were read to him and his fellow respondents. 

Reyes, on the other hand, did not enter a plea, prompting Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Alex Quiroz to enter a not guilty plea on her behalf in accordance with the rules.

Napoles, for her part, pleaded not guilty to charges against her. She is being accused of owning and controlling six bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) to which Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was allegedly channeled for bankrolling ghost projects.

The senator is also facing plunder charges for allegedly pocketing more than P172.8 million in alleged kickbacks or commissions from his PDAF releases from 2007 to 2009. He declined to answer questions from the media yesterday.

Other respondents in the graft cases were officials of the National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), Technology Resource Center (TRC) and the National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC).  Some of them refused to enter plea.

Five of the respondents – Eulogio Rodriguez, Evelyn de Leon, Nitz Cabilao, Mylene Encarnacion and Jocelyn Piorato – did not attend the arraignment.

Justice Tang ordered the cancellation of their bail and directed their lawyers to explain within 10 days why they should not be cited for contempt. Pre-trail hearing is scheduled in May 2015.

During the discussions, Justice Martires initially offered opposing parties 10 days to complete the process of pre-marking documentary evidence so as to expedite the proceedings.

However, Reyes’ defense counsel Anacleto Diaz and fellow defense lawyer Paul Lentejas objected, citing voluminous documents that they have to examine.

Ombudsman lawyers agreed and asked for reconsideration.

“Anxiety, according to the Supreme Court, is the most severe punishment to an accused,” Martires said in reply to prosecution and defense lawyers.

Since there are only six NGOs and three implementing agencies concerned in the Enrile cases, he said opposing sides should divide the workload and speed up the process. He said prolonging the process would cause much anguish to those detained.

He even offered to help Third Division clerk of court Dennis Pulma handle procedures and joked that he is willing to miss his favorite late night teleserye to speed up the process.

In the end, the Sandiganbayan opted to give prosecution and defense counsels 20 days to conduct the preliminary hearings subject to a P5,000 fine for each day of extension asked.

‘Are you feeling cold’

 During arraignment, Enrile, in white polo barong, was allowed to sit beside Reyes. They were directly in front of the magistrates.

Standing beside them were their lawyers Eleazar Reyes and Diaz while behind them was Napoles, wearing her usual blue hooded sweater. She was also allowed to sit down because she recently had surgery.

Martires said Enrile and Reyes were allowed to sit at the lawyer’s table on the side reserved for defense counsels because they themselves were lawyers.

Enrile and Reyes were seen talking with each other as the graft charges were read for almost two hours in open court.

A teary-eyed Reyes was observed removing her glasses at one point and showing her former boss her right eye.

Enrile was also seen leaning towards Reyes apparently to hear her better as they chatted every now and then.

Diaz, who stood behind his client throughout the proceedings, told The STAR that the senator was heard asking his former chief of staff if she was feeling cold.

Other defense lawyers who overheard the short conversations said both were assuring each other that “they’ll be able to get over this controversy.”

Reyes was even seen nudging or touching Enrile’s arm, apparently to call his attention whenever she wanted to say something to him.

Yesterday was the first time the two saw each other in court since the Office of the Ombudsman filed plunder and graft charges against them three months ago.

Enrile is currently being held at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH) because of his frail medical condition and is expected to be moved to a tertiary hospital as recommended by doctors, who did not approve of him being detained in a jail facility.

Reyes and Napoles are detained at the Taguig City Jail female dormitory located inside Camp Bagong Diwa.

All three came to court heavily guarded by PNP and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel who also carried with them sphygmomanometer or blood pressure checker.

Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan has granted Reyes’ motion for her to be allowed to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance anglogram (MRA) of the brain because she recently bumped her head inside her detention cell following an anxiety attack.

Her lawyer said she showed signs of intermittent spasms of her right eyelid and cheek along with a progressive slurring in her speech and a slight deposit of saliva on her right lip.

Reyes has likewise asked the Sandiganbayan to allow a laptop computer, Internet connection and a printer in her jail cell to help her lawyers draft or prepare documents to be used in court.

Transfer backed

The PNP, meanwhile, expressed support for the transfer of Enrile to another hospital with better equipment and facilities.

Officials said the Philippine Heart Center or the National Kidney and Transplant Institute could better attend to Enrile.

Earlier, the Sandiganbayan ordered the PGH to examine Enrile, who asked the court to place him under hospital arrest.

Enrile is suffering from irregular heartbeat, hypertension, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and age-related macular degeneration which may lead to blindness. With Cecille Suerte Felipe