No JPE motion yet for transfer of detention

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has taken note of the letter of appeal from the Senate asking the anti-graft court to place detained Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile under house arrest.

Dennis Pulma, clerk of court of the Third Division, said yesterday that the magistrates would just take note of the confidential letter sent by the senators last week and its contents unless Enrile files an actual motion.

Pulma told The STAR that Enrile has not filed any pleading asking for transfer of detention.

The minority leader, facing charges of plunder for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam, is under hospital detention at the Philippine National Police General Hospital (PNPGH) in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“Even if they support the idea, it will just appear as a sense of the Senate, a manifestation of the Senate, which the court will take note of,” Pulma explained.

He said parties to the case asking for specific relief through a motion or any other pleading is the only way that the court could act accordingly.

Pulma said he cannot disclose the contents of the letter addressed to magistrates headed by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang but he added that parts of Sen. Vicente Sotto III’s privilege speech were attached to it.

Enrile, after almost a month at the Makati Medical Center (MMC), was returned to PNPGH yesterday morning.

The 91-year-old lawmaker, who suffered from pneumonia, is reportedly in stable condition.

Raymond Santos of the PNPGH confirmed Enrile’s return to the Camp Crame hospital.

Enrile was brought to MMC on Feb. 26 supposedly because better equipment was needed to treat his medical condition.

Chief Insp. Raymond Santos, PNP Health Service spokesman, said Enrile’s condition had improved after 21 days in MMC.

Though no actual order or ruling was issued, the Sandiganbayan in effect allowed him to continue staying at the MMC.

Pulma said even the prosecution filed no motion questioning the transfer.

Enrile, his former chief of staff Jessica Reyes and alleged pork barrel fund scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles are among those facing plunder charges for alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.

Reyes and Napoles are detained in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Sixteen senators sent a letter of appeal last week to the Sandiganbayan to allow Enrile to be detained at his house in Dasmariñas Village, Makati.

Senate acting Minority Leader Sotto initiated the letter.

Aside from Sotto, the other senators who signed the letter seeking compassion for Enrile were Senate President Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto, Grace Poe, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Francis Escudero, Sergio Osmeña III, Juan Edgardo Angara, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Cynthia Villar, Loren Legarda, Lito Lapid, Nancy Binay, Gregorio Honasan and Joseph Victor Ejercito.

The senators who did not sign the appeal were Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Alan Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino Pimentel III.

Enrile’s co-accused Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., both facing similar plunder charges, have been detained at the PNP Custodial Center also in Camp Crame.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division rejected yesterday the request of Napoles to be excused from attending her bail hearings.

The justices junked her motion, citing lack of merit on her claims that the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is spending too much every week just to bring her to the anti-graft court considering that she has signed a waiver of appearance.

The court also rejected Napoles’ argument that she should be excused due to physical and mental fatigue.

“The claim that the BJMP is spending P43,350 every time it transports accused Napoles to court to attend the bail hearings is not a justifiable ground to excuse accused Napoles from appearing during the bail hearings,” the Sandiganbayan said.

The court said there is an imperative need for the accused to attend the proceedings as a necessary consequence of being charged with a crime as grave as plunder.

No warrant for Napoles’ daughter

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) First and Third Divisions have not yet issued arrest warrants against Napoles’ socialite daughter Jeane Catherine Napoles.

Records from the tax court showed that the two cases against the younger Napoles were raffled off to the divisions headed by CTA Presiding Justice Roman del Rosario and Associate Justice Lovell Bautista, respectively.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed on Tuesday charges against the young Napoles for allegedly attempting to evade taxes and failure to file income tax returns for the years 2011 and 2012.

DOJ said the younger Napoles had accumulated P17.88 million in tax liabilities.

The DOJ said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was able to present evidence to back up their allegations that Jeane Napoles evaded the payment of taxes on her various acquisitions, including a condominium unit in California and farm lots in Pangasinan.

The BIR started its investigation of the younger Napoles after she received flak online for her social media posts on her supposed luxurious and ostentatious lifestyle.

Bruce Rivera, a counsel for the Napoles family, has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the filing of the case.

Senior assistant prosecutor Edna Valenzuela also dismissed the respondent’s arguments that the properties registered under her name were actually bought and paid for by her parents, and that she merely held them in trust.

The BIR said the condominium unit in Los Angeles was acquired for $1,280,000 (P54.73 million) in July 2011 and the two farm lots in Pangasinan were purchased in January 2012 for P1,493,333.33.

It assessed the tax liabilities of Jeane Napoles at P17,461,038.40 for the condominium and P486,866.67 for the farm lots – a total of P17.88 million. – With Janvic Mateo, Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe