Enrile leaves ‘$10-M’ brown envelope untouched

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has not touched the brown envelope allegedly containing proof that Chief Justice Renato Corona has stashed $10 million somewhere.

Enrile said he had not met the sender, “a certain Mr. Keh” who handed over the envelope to his staff.

“I have never met him. The envelope was given to my receiving clerk. I told them to just keep (the contents) in the envelope,” Enrile said in an interview Wednesday.

Enrile, presiding officer of Corona’s impeachment trial, has signed a subpoena summoning Harvey Keh, lead convenor of the civil society group “Kaya Natin!,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and three others in connection with allegations about the Chief Justice’s alleged dollar deposits.

Acting on complaints  filed by Keh, Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, Risa Hontiveros, Emmanuel Tiu Santos and six others, the Office of the Ombudsman is investigating the dollar deposits that Corona allegedly did not declare in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Enrile said the subpoena for Keh, although requested by Corona’s lawyers, was also based on the merit of the unexplained wealth case that Keh had filed against the Chief Justice.

A prank?

“(Keh) filed the complaint (against the Chief Justice) I understand so I had him subpoenaed,” the Senate President said.

“I don’t know whether he would say anything interesting. I don’t know what information he has,” Enrile added.

Keh got in touch with at least two Inquirer reporters on Monday morning with an offer to provide information about Corona’s supposed dollar deposits.

In his call to this reporter, Keh said on the phone that he could not ascertain the authenticity of the documents.

Keh added that the documents were sent anonymously in a brown envelope to his office.

In an interview with a third Inquirer reporter Tuesday night, Keh reiterated that he was unsure about the authenticity of the documents and said that the whole thing could just be a “prank.”