MANILA, Philippines – Unlike his co-accused in plunder and graft charges who were making rounds before getting arrested, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile was quietly reading books and playing games on his iPad.
“Okay naman, awa ng Diyos. Bakit? Malayo pa naman ako sa hukay,” Enrile said in jest when asked by reporters in a phone patch interview on Thursday how he was.
(I am okay through God’s mercy. Why? I am not going to die yet.)
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Despite the possible issuance of arrest warrants against him and Senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong’ Revilla Jr, Enrile saw no reason for them to be stressed.
“There is no reason for us to be stressed,” he said. “’Yung sinasabi nila na mag-apologize daw kami? Bakit naman kami mag-apologize? Hindi rin naman kami nahuhusgahan. Nag-uumpisa pa lang ang paglilitis ‘di ba?”
(They are telling us to apologize. Why should we apologize? We have not been convicted yet. The litigation has just started, right?)
Enrile was referring to a Catholic priest’s statement that the senators charged with plunder should apologize to the public.
Told that Estrada had admitted experiencing “mental torture,” Enrile said: “Ako walang ginagawa kundi nagbabasa at naglalaro ng aking iPad.”
(I have not been doing anything except read and play on my iPad.)
Though confident that he would not be arrested because the case against him was “weak,” the senator still talked about bringing his favorite books should the court order his capture.
Among the books that he would bring in jail, he said, include a book about history of political theory, a book on the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, and a book of poems.
“Para malilibang ako na magbabasa maski nahihirapan na ako bumasa, ginagamit na ang magnifying glass para bumasa ng mga gusto kong basahin,” Enrile said.
(I am enjoying reading though I have been finding it difficult that I already use a magnifying glass just to be able to.)
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