DOJ may look into JPE ‘crimes’

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) is inclined to look into alleged crimes committed by Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, which Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago raised in a privilege speech last Wednesday.

In an interview, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she is particularly considering an investigation into Enrile’s alleged involvement in illegal activities in the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) as insinuated by Santiago. After her scathing privilege speech last Wednesday, Santiago wrote De Lima a letter seeking a probe on Enrile.

“Offhand, we can look into allegations pertaining to alleged smuggling, alleged illegal logging, and alleged gambling, especially online, those related to CEZA,” De Lima revealed.

She said the government had in fact initiated an investigation into online gambling operations at CEZA during the tenure of the late interior secretary Jesse Robredo.

“The Philippine National Police has undertaken operations against online gambling there but the operators justified it on the basis of license issued by the CEZA. They were also able to get temporary restraining order (TRO) from local courts and even turned the tables on the law enforcers,” she recalled.

With Santiago’s request, the DOJ chief said she would again contest the TRO and ask the Office of the Solicitor General to submit to her a status report on the cases related to online gambling in the CEZA.

“In that aspect (illegal gambling), we already started that, so we will just look into it further. In those kinds of allegations, I think we can pursue the investigation,” she said.

On Santiago’s claim that Enrile – not Janet Lim Napoles – had masterminded the pork barrel scam, De Lima explained that the Office of the Ombudsman is investigating the matter.

She admitted, however, that it would be hard to dredge up evidence to link Enrile to human rights abuses during martial law.

“We will first evaluate because even if we’re willing to investigate, the chance of uncovering those things would be remote or difficult because of the long period which already lapsed,” she said.

Insult

Meanwhile, Santiago said she felt insulted by her colleagues’ calling for a truce with Enrile while seeking to have some of her harsh words against him stricken off Senate records.

“If, after the Enrile personal attack against me, certain senators had moved to strike off the record, I would not have delivered my own response,” Santiago said in a statement. Sen. Sergio Osmeña III on Thursday described Santiago’s speech as unparliamentary and moved that some portions of it be removed from Senate records.

“Why are they proposing the motion only now?  Do they mean that Enrile is allowed to insult me on a personal level, but I am prohibited from paying him back in his own coin? If any of these senators were insulted personally, would each one have consented to remain silent?” Santiago asked.

In the judiciary, Santiago noted that “when opposing counsel moves to strike off the record, and the judge grants the motion, the testimony will remain on the record.”

“This procedure is followed, so that in case of appeal, the appellate court will be able to see from the record what the testimony was. Thus, striking off the records is nominal, because the testimony will stay,” she explained.

For Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Santiago was right about calling for an investigation into Enrile’s alleged  involvement in criminal activities including smuggling and killing of activists during martial law.

“I believe that the privilege speech of Sen. Miriam was not only made to defend herself from the personal attacks made by Sen. Enrile but it also contained valuable information that could be used as basis for further investigation,” Trillanes said.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano echoed Trillanes’ position and recommended that the Senate review its own Code of Ethics.

No effect

 At the House of Representatives, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. expressed belief the word war between Enrile and Santiago would not derail the passage of pending bills.

He said both the Senate and the House of Representatives have their respective legislative mechanisms, like the bicameral conference committee, that make sure pending bills are processed.

Needing prompt attention from lawmakers are the proposed P2.68-trillion national budget for 2014 and the P14.6-billion supplemental budget aimed to boost funds for the rehabilitation of calamity-hit areas.

“Whether the intramurals in the Senate affect (pending bills)? I don’t see it happening,” Belmonte said.

The Speaker said the bicameral conference committee is scheduled on meet on Monday to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the proposed national budget.