Finally.... MANILA, Philippines–Detained Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who is currently facing plunder and graft charges relative to his connection with the pork barrel scam before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, has been suspended by the Senate, effective September 1, Monday. Enrile is facing said charges for allegedly amassing, together with others, P172.8M in kickbacks from 2004 to 2010 through non-government organizations put up by alleged pork barrel scam masternmind Janet Lim-Napoles. According to Senate President Franklin Drilon, they started implementing the 90-day suspension order on Senator Juan Ponce Enrile after the latter’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the same anti-graft court. “Today I will implement the order of the Sandiganbayan on the suspension of Senator Enrile. I have no recourse, but to implement this, as we received the order of the Sandiganbayan denying the motion for reconsideration of Senator Enrile,” Drilon told reporters. “The suspension will be effective today, and the suspension will be automatically lifted after 90 days. This is the order of the Sandiganbayan and we have no recourse but to implement it, consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in the case involving a member of the legislature,” the Senate president added. According to Drilon, while under preventive suspension, Enrile may not file Senate bills and will not receive his salary. However, while the latter will not be able to receive his salaries and other benefits, his staff would continue to get paid since they are regular employees of the Senate; they are not affected. He further clarifies that : “In fact, these are employees of the Senate na sa kanila naka-detail. Yung co-terminus, empleyado ng Senado yan. Hindi empleyadong personal ng mga senador.” Also facing plunder and graft charges in connection with the scam are Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. Drilon adds that the same shall apply to Estrada and Revilla, Jr. as soon as an order is received from the court. Right now, he has yet to implement their suspension because he has not received any order from the the court. “So this is what we will do today, the suspension will be effective as directed by the Sandiganbayan as of September 1, 2014. As I said, we have no recourse but to implement this, in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Santiago versus Sandiganbayan in 2001, when the court expressly ruled that the anti-graft law is applicable to elected officials of the Philippine legislature,” the Senate president explained. The order of suspension that the Sandiganbayan issued on July 25 was based on the motion by the prosecution that Enrile might intimidate witnesses or tamper evidence while he is in the performance of his official duties as a senator.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 15:32:44 +0000
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