Enrile refuses to enter plea on plunder case

(Updated 2:03 p.m.) The Sandiganbayan Third Division entered a not guilty plea for Senator Juan Ponce Enrile after he refused to enter any plea during his arraignment for plunder on Friday in connection with the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.

"I enter no plea. I would like my counsel to explain," Enrile, who was wearing a Holter monitor for his blood pressure under his white barong, told the court.

Lawyer Estelito Mendoza said his client decided not to enter any plea because of the court's earlier denial of the motions they filed.

"We respectfully submit that under these circumstances, the court has not acquired jurisdiction on the person of the accused," he said.

Mendoza on Friday asked the anti-graft court to let the prosecution provide details on the charges filed against his client, because he said the information submitted by the prosecution is lacking in details.

During the hearing on Enrile's motion for bill of particulars he sought clarifications on the charge sheet for plunder.

Also, Mendoza said the prosecution does not have proof that Enrile received the P172 million in kickbacks from his pork barrel fund coursed through bogus nongovernment organizations owned by trader and suspected mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

"The prosecution cannot be allowed to win on a bluff," he said.

But the court rejected the plea for clarifications as well as Enrile's subsequent motion for reconsideration, and his arraignment for plunder pushed through.

On the other hand, businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the scam, entered a not guilty plea. She was reading a book “straight from the heart” during the hearing.

Graft charges

However, the arraignment of Enrile, Napoles and their other co-accused for graft charges has been reset for next Friday after the prosecution moved to amend the information on the case.

The court set the preliminary conference of the plunder case on July 18, 25 and August 1, 1:30 p.m., while the pre-trial conference will be on August 18, 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Enrile's co-accused Gigi Reyes was not present during the arraignment as she was not cleared by doctors at Taguig Pateros District Hospital.

Her lawyer, Anacleto Diaz, said they will be filing within the day a motion asking the court to allow Reyes to be transferred to a tertiary hospital for a comprehensive checkup.

"Her doctor at Taguig Pateros Hospital recommends that she be transferred to a tertiary hospital for medical exam," he said.

The motion will be heard on Tuesday, July 15.

The court also set the hearing on the petition of Napoles, Ronald John Lim and Raymund De Asis to be allowed to post bail on July 25 and every Friday thereafter. The prosecution said they will be presenting 50 witnesses against the accused.

Enrile and his co-accused Reyes, Janet Lim Napoles, Ronald John Lim and Raymund De Asis allegedly amassed P172.8 million from 2004 to 2010.

Enrile and Reyes were accused of repeatedly receiving kickbacks and commissions from Napoles and her representatives Lim and De Asis.

The Ombudsman said that before, during, and after the project identification, the accused senator or his representative received a percentage of cost of the project to be funded by PDAF in exchange of the endorsement to the government agency of Napoles' foundation which became the recipient or target implementer of the project.

The project turned out to be fictitious, enabling Napoles to misappropriate the PDAF proceeds for her personal gain.

The Ombudsman said the accused took "undue advantage, on several occasions, of their official position, authority, relationship, connection and influence to unjustly enrich  themselves at the expense and to the damage and prejudice of the Filipino people."

Among the witnesses against the accused are Ruby Tuason, Benhur Luy, Merlina Suñas and Marina Sula. — LBG, GMA News