De Lima questions haste in Enrile release

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Did the release of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile from hospital detention come too soon?

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima thinks so, noting that the Supreme Court’s decision granting Enrile’s provisional liberty last week did not mention that it was immediately executory.

On the sidelines of a gathering of people’s organizations here on Monday, De Lima argued that the high court’s controversial ruling in favor of the 91-year-old senator should not have been implemented at once since it was still subject to appeal within a 15-day period.

She said the Office of the Ombudsman, which brought plunder, graft and bribery charges against Enrile and 30 other former and incumbent lawmakers over the alleged fraudulent use of their pork barrel allotments, would be asking the high court to reconsider its Aug. 18 resolution.

“I was thinking why (Enrile) was immediately released since the dispositive portion did not say that this decision is immediately executory,” De Lima told the Inquirer.

“Without that statement, ordinarily the decision of all the courts, including the Supreme Court, is not immediately final and executory but subject to a 15-day period to file a motion for reconsideration,” she said.

She also questioned the jurisdiction of the high court in approving Enrile’s legal remedy, pointing out that the high tribunal was “not a trial court in the first place.”

“So what was the basis or the assumption of the jurisdiction by the Supreme Court?” De Lima asked.

“The petition for certiorari filed by Enrile’s camp… goes through the usual process, including the finality of the decision. That’s why I’m puzzled,” she added.

De Lima earlier said that the high court’s unprecedented ruling had again relegated the country into a “banana republic.”

After spending more than a year in a private ward of the Philippine National Police General Hospital at Camp Crame, Enrile walked out a free man on Thursday night after posting a bail of P1.45 million for plunder and 15 counts of graft.

Speaking at the Daang Matuwid (Straight Path) People’s Dialogue held at Cebu Normal University, De Lima cited the successes of the Aquino administration in pursuing corruption cases against influential politicians and putting them behind bars.

She also took pride in the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was found guilty by the Senate impeachment court for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.

“The straight path is all about the rule of law, truth and accountability. It is only now that we were able to show political will in making those who broke our laws accountable,” De Lima said.