SENATE Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile shrugged off on Wednesday a new complaint filed against him at the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with his pork barrel funds that were allegedly channeled to questionable non-government organizations (NGOs).
Enrile was among the 20 incumbent and former lawmakers included in the malversation charges filed by lawyer Levito Baligod, who accused the respondents of allegedly channeling a total of P490,685,000.000 pork barrel funds to NGOs, not linked with alleged detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
READ: Enrile, Revilla, Angara, others charged in new P500M pork scam
“Sa akin? One more time so what’s the difference? Multiple plunder. Sobra na yata yun (I think that’s too much),” Enrile said, responding to a reporter’s question that another plunder case was filed against him.
But when reporters clarified that it was just a malversation case, and not plunder, the senator simply said: “We’ll see.”
Told that it was Baligod who filed the case, Enrile said: “Magaling na abugado yun. Dapat kunin nila, sya ang magpo-prosecute. Magaling yun.”
(He is a good lawyer. They should get him, he should be the one to prosecute. He’s good.)
Asked again what could have been Levido’s motive in filing the case, the senator said: “I don’t know him. I don’t know his mind, I don’t know his abilities.”
“I don’t know bahala sila (It’s up to them). I’m going to meet them in the proper forum,” he said when pressed for answers.
Asked who could be behind Baligod, Enrile said: “Ewan ko. Tanungin nyo sa kanya baka anino (I don’t know. Ask him, maybe his shadow).”
Enrile also shrugged off the Ombudsman’s reported plan to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the senator to post bail for plunder and graft charges in connection with the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Napoles.
“That’s their right, they can go ahead,” he said.
Does it mean then that the Supreme Court’s ruling on his bail was not yet final, the senator said he would just leave it up to the court to decide on his case.
“I gave my arguments so they disposed my case. Nasa kanila yun,” he added.