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Sandiganbayan junks Enrile’s motion for reconsideration on bail petition
By AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMA News
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(Updated 1:05 p.m.) The Sandiganbayan on Friday denied the motion for reconsideration filed by detained Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile to gain temporary freedom over the plunder and graft case he is facing in connection with the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.
In a 14-page resolution, the Sandiganbayan Third Division said it cannot grant Enrile’s request to fix his bail unless it hears and evaluates the evidence to be presented by the prosecution against him.
“No amount of legal hermeneutics can justify accused Enrile’s insistence that the court should already grant him bail pending the prosecution’s presentation of its evidence showing proof evident of his guilt,” the resolution, penned by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, read.
The court said the prosecution has the burden to show that the evidence of guilt against the accused is strong during the bail hearing. If the evidence of guilt is strong, it is the court’s duty to deny the application for bail. However, if the evidence is weak, "the bail becomes a matter of right."
“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 accused 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 court said.
Enrile did not apply for bail but immediately asked the court to fix the amount of his bail “based on his submission that he is entitled to bail as a matter of right pending presentation by the prosecution of its evidence showing proof of his guilt,” the court said.
“Accused Enrile conveniently overlooks the fact that he is charged with a capital offense ; hence, bail as to him is discretionary....under the Revised Rules of Court, such discretion is exercisable by the court only after the prosecution presented its evidence in a bail hearing,” it added.
The court also said Enrile has not established a privileged mitigating circumstance which would allow the lowering of the imposable penalty next to that prescribed by the law. It said Enrile’s age and his supposed voluntary surrender are ordinary mitigating circumstances.
It added Enrile still needs to establish his claim of voluntary surrender when it is his turn to present evidence.
In the same resolution, the court also denied Enrile’s motion for reconsideration on his motion to dismiss and supplemental opposition to the issuance of warrant of arrest which were earlier denied.
Enrile is facing one count of plunder and 15 counts of graft.
In separate information sheets filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, Enrile and his co-accused are alleged to have amassed P172.8 million in kickbacks from 2004 to 2010 through non-government organizations associated with alleged pork scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.
Enrile is currently detained at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News
In a 14-page resolution, the Sandiganbayan Third Division said it cannot grant Enrile’s request to fix his bail unless it hears and evaluates the evidence to be presented by the prosecution against him.
“No amount of legal hermeneutics can justify accused Enrile’s insistence that the court should already grant him bail pending the prosecution’s presentation of its evidence showing proof evident of his guilt,” the resolution, penned by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, read.
The court said the prosecution has the burden to show that the evidence of guilt against the accused is strong during the bail hearing. If the evidence of guilt is strong, it is the court’s duty to deny the application for bail. However, if the evidence is weak, "the bail becomes a matter of right."
“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 accused 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 court said.
Enrile did not apply for bail but immediately asked the court to fix the amount of his bail “based on his submission that he is entitled to bail as a matter of right pending presentation by the prosecution of its evidence showing proof of his guilt,” the court said.
“Accused Enrile conveniently overlooks the fact that he is charged with a capital offense ; hence, bail as to him is discretionary....under the Revised Rules of Court, such discretion is exercisable by the court only after the prosecution presented its evidence in a bail hearing,” it added.
The court also said Enrile has not established a privileged mitigating circumstance which would allow the lowering of the imposable penalty next to that prescribed by the law. It said Enrile’s age and his supposed voluntary surrender are ordinary mitigating circumstances.
It added Enrile still needs to establish his claim of voluntary surrender when it is his turn to present evidence.
In the same resolution, the court also denied Enrile’s motion for reconsideration on his motion to dismiss and supplemental opposition to the issuance of warrant of arrest which were earlier denied.
Enrile is facing one count of plunder and 15 counts of graft.
In separate information sheets filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, Enrile and his co-accused are alleged to have amassed P172.8 million in kickbacks from 2004 to 2010 through non-government organizations associated with alleged pork scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles.
Enrile is currently detained at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News
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