‘Wait,’ CJ Sereno tells public on Enrile bail case

Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. FILE PHOTO BY RAFFY LERMA

WHILE the Supreme Court’s controversial decision to allow Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to post bail for a nonbailable offense has sparked debates among the public and even justices themselves, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno only has a few words.

“What I will tell the public is to wait,” Sereno said during the 3rd CJ Meets the Press conference on Thursday when asked to react on public sentiment that the high court supposedly gave “special accommodation” to the 91-year-old senator.

Sereno said there are still a lot of probabilities that may happen.

Asked about Associate Justice Marvic Leonen’s dissenting opinion on the SC decision, Sereno said she gave an “unqualified concurrence” to the dissent.

“So that’s it,” she added.

In a 29-page dissenting opinion, Leonen said the high court gave special accommodation to Enrile, noting that “bail for humanitarian considerations is neither presently provided in Rules of Court nor found in any statute or provision of the Constitution.”

Reacting to issues of mistrust and call for transparency in the judiciary following the Enrile bail decision, Sereno said confidentiality should be discussed within the “proper context.”

“‘Yang pag-uusap ng confidentiality ay kailangan tignan sa konteksto. Ano nga ba ang purpose ng confidentiality? Meron naman po kaming internal rules committee na nag-rereview ng mga ‘yan (What is the purpose of confidentiality anyway? We have an internal rules committee that review those),” she said.

Asked on the possible implications of the decision to similar cases, Sereno said: “Then you really have to wait.”

“Ang sagot diyan actually is to wait. I’m not a sociologist… We cannot predict what will happen,” she added.

‘Independence, integrity, competence’

Noting that a good judge should base decisions on training and conscience, Sereno, one of the four justices who voted against Enrile’s temporary liberty, said it did not matter whether she was part of the minority.

“The role of the CJ is very clear in the Constitution—vote as independently as she can with competence, integrity and independence. It doesn’t matter if her vote is part of the majority or minority,” she said, adding that a chief justice should not show the public a lack of courage even if she is alone.

Enrile, who was detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital for a year, is temporarily free after posting a P1.45-million bail for plunder over the pork barrel scam.

In a vote of 8-4, the high court granted Enrile’s motion to reverse the Sandiganbayan Third Division’s ruling that denied his bail plea.  Yuji Vincent Gonzales/JE