FORMER Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said he is ready to prove his innocence and the innocence of his staff against charges filed against them over his supposed misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund.
“I am ready to prove my innocence, and the innocence of my staff in connection with the case filed against us,” Enrile said during the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Monday.
Enrile was apparently referring to his aide, lawyer Gigi Reyes, who was also implicated in the pork barrel scam, when he mentioned “innocence of his staff.”
“In the first place their complaint was so lopsided. It was a general warrant. I have handled general law, of all cases in this country, nonetheless, I know what I was doing. And I never lost one case,” said Enrile, a former Senate president and later Minority leader.
But Enrile declined to comment on the Facebook post of his daughter Katrina Ponce Enrile, who lashed at Senator Leila de Lima for “forgetting” that once upon a time, when she was Justice secretary, she also “shamed some political individuals.”
“Senator De Lima forgets that when she was the secretary of Justice she knew full well that she shamed some political individuals, one of whom was my father and she did it without abandon,” said Katrina.
Enrile was detained inside the Philippine National Police General Hospital for over 150 days, following his arrest in 2014 over graft and plunder charges. He was released on bail in 2015.
Enrile was among the legislators named by so-called “pork barrel queen” Janet Lim Napoles for allegedly pocketing government funds through fake projects and bogus non-governmental organizations.
Two other senators from the opposition whose terms ended on June 30—Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr.—were the first top government officials to be arrested following revelations by key whistleblower and former Napoles aide Benhur Luy.
Estrada and Revilla are still under detention at the PNP Custodial Center.
De Lima, as Secretary of Justice in the Aquino administration, pursued cases against the three senators.
“She knew that the cases she filed were less than forthright. She knew Benhur Luy forged their signatures. Yet she persisted. She handpicked a few Senators to persecute publicly and she was relentless,” Katrina also said.
“I do not wish any ill on the Senator but, just saying, that she also did the same thing when she was in power,” she said.
De Lima has been the target of attacks by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte for her alleged ties to illegal drugs.
During a speech last week in Camp Crame, Duterte lashed out at De Lima for criticizing his administration’s war on illegal drugs when she herself was “immoral.”
De Lima denied any links to illegal drugs and urged Duterte to check his sources of information.
But Duterte insisted De Lima was guilty.
Duterte claimed it was through the senator’s bodyguard-driver, her alleged paramour, that she collected money from drug lords.
Duterte’s tirades against De Lima came days before the Senate committee on justice, which the senator heads, bega a legislative hearing Monday into allegations of summary executions during anti-illegal drugs operations by police.
