Sandiganbayan to Enrile: No bail without bail petition

The Sandiganbayan on Thursday declined to fix bail for Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, saying that setting the amount he has to pay for provisional liberty is “exceedingly premature.”

Enrile, who is temporarily detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital due to ill health, faces one count of plunder and 15 counts of graft for allegedly conspiring to pocket millions in public funds by diverting his Priority Development Assistance Fund to bogus non-governmmental organizations.

In 10-page decision, the anti-graft court’s third division outlined the process of seeking bail. They also denied Enrile’s request since the 90-year old senator has not filed a motion for bail in the first place.

“To accused Enrile, bail is not a matter of right but is discretionary upon the Court. To enable the Court to properly exercise this discretion, evidence of his guilt must be presented to it. While the law imposes this duty on the prosecution, it is the filing of an application for bail that sets in motion the bail proceedings,” the motion said.

While Enrile has asked the court to set the amount for his bail, he has neglected to file the necessary petition to set bail hearings in motion.

“No such determination [of evidence of guilt being strong] has been made by the court. In fact, accused Enrile has not filed an application for bail. Necessarily, no bail hearing can even commence. It is thus exceedingly premature for accused Enrile to ask the Court to fix his bail,” the resolution said.

The anti-graft court denied Enrile’s motion for lack of merit, saying that all his arguments to ask the court to fix bail are rendered moot and academic by his failure to follow procedure.

“Admittedly, the accused’s age, physical condition and his being a flight risk are among factors that are considered in fixing a reasonable amount of bail. However, as explained, it is premature for the Court to fix the amount of bail without an anterior showing that the evidence of guilt against accused Enrile is not strong,” the motion said.

However, the denial of Enrile’s motion to fix bail does not mean the court has disallowed Enrile’s temporary liberty. Instead, it called on Enrile’s camp to file the necessary motions for his request to be considered.

“It is only after the prosecution shall have presented its evidence and the Court shall have made a determination that the evidence of guilt is not strong against Enrile can he demand bail as a matter of right. Then and only then will the Court be duty bound to fix the amount of his bail,” the resolution said. — JDS, GMA News