Senate minority won’t be cowed

MANILA, Philippines - The arrest of their leader Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday has not cowed the Senate minority.

Deputy Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III said they can withstand all challenges following the detention of Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center.

“There will always be a minority even if there will only be one (senator),”  he said.

Sotto will be acting minority leader and temporarily take over Enrile’s responsibilities as part of standard operating procedure at the Senate.

Sen. Nancy Binay, a daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, said they remain unfazed even after Enrile and Estrada were jailed.

“The minority is still intact and prepared to confront political storms to come,” she said.

Before Enrile was arrested, Binay said she hoped the arresting officers would extend due courtesy to him given his age and health.

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. has also been detained on the non-bailable charges of plunder.

He was a member of the majority until he criticized the administration during the  2013 elections.

Now that Enrile is in police custody, the minority has four remaining members – Sotto, Binay and Senators Gregorio Honasan and JV Ejercito.

Honasan is mum on the latest developments. He has also been implicated in the pork barrel fund misuse.

Ejercito had criticized the administration’s alleged persecution of opposition senators.

The administration is out to disable the political opposition in the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections, he added.

Erap hits De Lima

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada reminded Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that an accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty after she said the government has a “slam dunk” evidence against his son Jinggoy Estrada and the other senators implicated in pork barrel scam.

“The statements of the DOJ (Department of Justice) secretary that they have a slam dunk evidence tend to show that he (Jinggoy) is already guilty,” he said.

Estrada said De Lima should let the court first hear the case of Jinggoy before she issues a statement.

“The court has yet to hear his case,” he said. “She is a lawyer. She should remember that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

De Lima should to stop making pronouncements that tend to declare Jinggoy and his co-accused guilty, Estrada said.

For his part, Jinggoy has vowed to continue working for his constituents while in the lockup.

“I will continue to work after the 90-day suspension,” he said in an interview prior to his detention last June 26. – With Jose Rodel Clapano