Arrests to follow HDOs

By: Nancy C. Carvajal - 10 years ago

(From left) Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla: Imminent arrests. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines–The arrests of opposition Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla are imminent after the Sandiganbayan barred them from leaving the country, the National Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday.

“Big possibility” was how NBI Director Virgilio Mendez replied to the Inquirer’s question if the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the three senators and 51 others charged with plunder and/or graft was imminent following the hold-departure orders (HDOs) that the antigraft court had issued against them.

Like Mendez, former Sen. Panfilo Lacson said “the issuance of the arrest warrants is imminent.”

Senate President Franklin Drilon on Tuesday night said that the arrest warrants would be issued only after the three Sandiganbayan divisions handling the cases examined the evidence.

Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison on Tuesday ordered the enforcement of the HDOs against the three senators and their coaccused.

In a statement, Mison said he had ordered immigration personnel at the country’s international airports and seaports to immediately “put under their care” those named in the HDOs should they attempt to leave the country.

Enrile, Estrada and Revilla have been prevented from leaving the country while their plunder and graft cases in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam are pending in the Sandiganbayan.

On Monday, the first working day after the cases were raffled off in the Sandiganbayan, Fifth Division issued an HDO against Estrada and his 13 coaccused in his plunder and graft cases.

Under the law, the government is empowered to prevent the departure of a person while his or her case is being tried by a court.

The HDOs against Enrile and Revilla and their coaccused, including Janet Lim-Napoles whose network of dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs) allegedly diverted multimillion-peso kickbacks from lawmakers’ pork barrel funds, were issued within hours of each other on Tuesday by two Sandiganbayan divisions handling their respective cases.

The Sandiganbayan Third Division ordered the Bureau of Immigration to bar Enrile and his 46 coaccused in plunder and graft cases from leaving the country without the court’s approval.

A similar order was issued a few hours earlier by the antigraft court’s First Division against Revilla and 35 others coaccused in his plunder and graft cases.

This means that all those charged with the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)—including the three senators, alleged mastermind Napoles, budget officials, executives of state corporations and senatorial staff members—are prevented from leaving the country for the duration of the trial.

Revilla to stay put

Revilla on Tuesday said he did not plan to run away from the plunder case against him.

He said he had expected the HDO because Estrada got the same order the day before.

“I don’t intend to leave the country. As I have said over and over, I will face the accusations against me,” Revilla said in a statement issued by his office following the issuance of the HDO.

Enrile was mum on the HDO issued against him.

A member of his staff said that the senator would not comment or release any statement on that issue.

Earlier, Revilla said on a radio interview that it appeared that developments in his plunder case in the Sandiganbayan were moving fast.

But he said this was fine just as long as the Sandiganbayan hearings would not move at a slow pace.

“I hope when we are already detained, the hearings would not slow down. That will be difficult because (plunder) is nonbailable,” Revilla told dwIZ radio.

The senator said he was ready to go to jail and that he had prepared his family about all possibilities. “It already seems like I’m detained, so it’s better just to detain me.”

Revilla also said he did not want to take a look at the pictures or images of the Camp Crame facility that would serve as his detention cell pending the outcome of his trial.

Revilla’s 31 coaccused

Anyway, he said he had enough time to do all the staring of all corners of the room when he would be eventually detained there.

The HDO against Revilla covered his 31 coaccused, namely Napoles, her nephew Ronald Lim, her aide John Raymund de Asis, the senator’s former chief political officer Richard Cambe;

Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) former president Allan Javellana, Technology Resource Center (TRC) former Directors General Antonio Ortiz and Dennis Cunanan, National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC) former president Gondelina Amata;

TRC employees Marivic Jover, Francisco Figura and Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana; NLDC employees Emmanuel Sevidal, Sofia Cruz, Chita Jalandoni, Evelyn Sucgang and Gregoria Buenaventura; Nabcor employees Rhodora Mendoza, Victor Cacal, Maria Niñez Guanizo and Maria Julie Villarolvo-Johnson;

Evelyn de Leon, president of Napoles’ NGO Philippine Social Development Foundation; Rosario Nuñez, Lalaine Paule and Marilou Bare of the Department of Budget and Management, Myla Ogerio, Eulogio Rodriguez, Laarni Uy, Consuelo Espiritu, Encarnita Munsod, Ofelia Ordoñez and Jocelyn Piorato.

Revilla’s case is handled by the First Division, which is chaired by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz, with Associate Justice Rafael Lagos as member and Associate Justice Napoleon Inotunan as special member.

Enrile’s 46 coaccused

The HDO against Enrile covered his 46 coaccused, namely Napoles, his former chief of staff Jessica “Gigi” Reyes, Napoles’ children Jo Christine and James Christopher Napoles, and Napoles’ aide De Asis and nephew Ronald Lim;

Relampagos, Javellana, Ortiz Cunanan and Amata;

Mendoza, Ornopia, Ogerio, Buenaventura, Rodriguez, De Leon, Aileen Palama, Mylene Encarnacion, Amparo Fernando, Margarita Guadinez, Fernando Ramirez and Nitz Cabilao;

Emmanuel Sevidal, Ofelia Ordonez, Filipina Rodriguez, Chita Jalandoni, Sofia Cruz, Jocelyn Piorato, Dorilyn Fabian, Hernani Ditchon, Rodrigo Galay, Laarni Uy, Victor Cacal, Maria Guanizo, Consuelo Espiritu, Jose Antonio Evangelista;

Nuñez, Paule, Munsod, Johnson, Romulo Relevo, Figura, Jover and Noel Macha.

Enrile’s case is handled by the Third Division chaired by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang with Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Alex Quiroz as members.

Estrada’s case is handled by the Fifth Division composed of Associate Justice Roland Jurado as chair and Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo as member (with the third seat still vacant).

‘Delicadeza’

Revilla took issue with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s statement that he could legally run for President in 2016 but that depended on his sense of propriety.

He said that the Aquino administration wanted to destroy him because he could adversely affect its 2016 plans.

The actor-turned-senator also said he was not campaigning but was thanking people for their love and support when he went around the city recently.

He wondered why De Lima, through her statements, was taking away his right to thank people. “Who between us has no delicadeza?” Revilla asked.–With reports from Gil Cabacungan and Jocelyn R. Uy