Travel ban imposed on Enrile, Revilla, Gigi

MANILA, Philippines - It was the turn of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. yesterday to be barred from leaving the country while on trial for plunder in connection with the pork barrel scam.

The Sandiganbayan issued the hold departure orders (HDO) on the two senators a day after similar orders were released by the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division for Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and 13 others.

Also covered by the HDOs were the former chiefs of staff of Revilla and Enrile: Richard Cambe and Gigi Reyes, respectively. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) received the court orders one after another yesterday.

“Our order to our BI agents is that they should be on alert and prevent the departure of those included in the HDO,” BI spokesperson Elaine Tan said.

Three different Sandiganbayan divisions are handling the plunder and graft charges against the lawmakers and their co-accused.

Enrile’s case is with the Third Division while Revilla’s is with the First Division.

While the multiple graft cases against Enrile, Revilla and Estrada are bailable, the plunder charges are not, unless the Sandiganbayan decides otherwise in response to motions from the accused.

The three senators and their chiefs off staff were among the first to be accused by pork scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy of getting kickbacks from spurious projects arranged by Napoles and bankrolled using their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the official term then for the congressional pork barrel.

The three senators have filed motions for judicial determination of probable cause and for dismissal of the charges against them.

Enrile’s camp, in filing the motions, said the allegations against him are “a bundle of confusing ambiguity.”

“Considering the horrendous avalanche of publicity in the PDAF cases, particularly against the accused senators, the rule should be applied stringently in determining whether the ‘information’ meets the requirement of the Constitution that the accused ‘be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him’.”

Not leaving

Reacting to the Sandiganbayan’s issuance of an HDO against him, Estrada said he doesn’t feel worried at all because he has no plans to leave the country anyway. As he has said all along, Estrada reiterated he intends to fulfill his promise to face all the charges against him.

“The evidence against me is weak and I am not a flight risk,” Estrada said. “Why should I flee? I have said time and again that I will face this case. I will fight this case against me.”

With the Sandiganbayan’s issuance of HDOs, warrants for his and his colleagues’ arrest are likely to come next.

In preparation for the possible arrest of the three senators, the Philippine National Police has prepared a special detention facility for them at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Estrada said that while he believes that it’s the Sandiganbayan which should decide on their place of detention, his camp is prepared to appeal if he and his colleagues are consigned in regular jails.

“Whatever the court wants, that’s what will be followed,” Estrada said in an interview over dzMM. He also said he is hoping to be allowed to post bail so he can be with family while his case is being heard.

“Our freedom and liberty are at stake here. We have to file a motion for bail in order to determine if the evidence against me is strong or weak,” Estrada said.

“Who wants to be jailed? You are going to be deprived of your time with your family,” he added.

Reyes’ lawyer Anacleto Diaz meanwhile made a plea for the suspension of proceedings concerning her case, including the issuance of a warrant for her arrest.

Diaz appeared before the anti-graft court’s Third Division yesterday asking that his client be given consideration as she was reportedly not given the chance to challenge the allegations against her during the preliminary investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We basically asked for suspension of the proceedings, particularly the issuance of a warrant of arrest, to give the Supreme Court an opportunity to evaluate our petition and application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and an injunction,” Diaz told The STAR after the oral arguments.

“Our appeal considers the fact that we never had the chance during the preliminary investigation,” Diaz explained, citing in particular Reyes’ allegedly being deprived of her right to respond to Ruby Tuason’s statements when the latter was applying to be allowed to turn state witness.

He said Reyes filed a counter-affidavit but was not informed of Tuason’s sworn statement which became the basis for her to be considered as a provisional state witness. Her supplemental sworn statement was later used as basis for her being declared a state witness.

“They even held clarificatory hearings and a supplemental sworn statement was made without furnishing us copies,” Diaz complained.

During the hearing, Sandiganbayan Third Division magistrates headed by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang gave Diaz five days to respond to ombudsman prosecutors’ comment on his motions. With Marvin Sy, Evelyn Macairan