MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division yesterday ordered the freezing of detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s assets worth P183.7 million, which is equivalent to the amount of the commissions he allegedly received from the pork barrel fund scam.
The Sandiganbayan issued the freeze order two weeks after prosecutors of the Office of the Ombudsman filed a motion asking the anti-graft court to prevent Estrada from disposing, moving or selling his properties while undergoing trial for plunder.
Assistant Ombudsman Asryman Rafanan earlier explained that a writ of preliminary attachment or garnishment is needed to ensure that the prosecution panel will not be going after an empty bag.
Garnishment seeks to make sure that the assets believed to be unlawfully acquired will not disappear and can be recovered if the prosecution wins its case.
Asryman said such move “is necessary to protect the interests of the state and to prevent the removal, concealment and disposition of ill-gotten properties and proceeds of plunder and corruption held by unscrupulous public officers.”
Estrada denounced the persecution and the alleged lack of due process in the way that the case against him is being pursued.
The lawmaker’s camp said the dissenting opinions of two Supreme Court magistrates in the decision on his petition that questioned his indictment say it all.
Associate Justices Arturo Brion and Presbitero Velasco Jr. said the plunder charges against Estrada filed before the Sandiganbayan were based on a questionable preliminary investigation.
According to the magistrates, the Office of the Ombudsman committed grave abuse of discretion when it unfairly concluded its probe and issued a decision finding probable cause to indict without making available to him the allegations and documents, which were used as basis for the decision.
Brion even called the finding of probable cause as “largely one-sided” and the preliminary investigation “gravely irregular.”
In a statement, Estrada’s office said the prosecution’s motion for issuance of a writ of preliminary attachment or garnishment has no legal leg to stand on as the grounds for the issuance of such under the Rules of Court are not present in this case.
Estrada’s camp again denied that the lawmaker had anything to do with the pork barrel fund scam as his role in the implementation of pork barrel-funded projects is purely recommendatory.
Revilla’s transfer sought
On Feb. 5, the Sandiganbayan First Division also issued a freeze order against the assets of detained Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. amounting to P224.5 million. Revilla is also facing plunder charges for allegedly misusing and having commissions from his pork barrel fund allocations from 2007 to 2009.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is likewise facing plunder charges for his alleged involvement in the scam. But he is under hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital because of his age and serious medical concerns.
State prosecutors are also pushing for the transfer of Revilla from the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
Prosecutors said Revilla is being accorded special privileges because he was seen visiting Enrile at the PNP General Hospital on the occasion of the latter’s 91st birthday last Valentine’s Day.
Revilla belied reports that he sneaked out of the PNP Custodial Center to visit Enrile.
He explained that he was rushed to the PNP General Hospital around 3 p.m. last Feb. 14 for immediate attention on his medical condition, causing his blood pressure shoot up. He said he experienced cold sweats, stiffness and pain on the back of his head and neck, and migraine.
“I was taken to the hospital by the PNP Custodial Center’s guards after a written request was made to the duty Officer of the Day – Custodial Service Unit, PSI Celina Tapaoan. I was accompanied by my two children, Bryan and Vice Gov. Jolo,” Revilla recounted.
Revilla said he stayed in the hospital for less than 30 minutes and was immediately taken back to his detention cell to rest after he was given medication.
“It is not true that I was at the hospital to visit Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. I did not go to his room as I did not even know where that was,” he added.
But Director Joefferson Toribio of the Office of the Special Prosecutor yesterday submitted to the Sandiganbayan First Division the evidence of Revilla’s “unauthorized” visit, which violates the rules and the orders of the anti-graft court that the accused cannot be moved without permission.
“We were wondering why we received pictures showing him (Revilla) and his son at Enrile’s room last Feb. 14,” Toribio said in Filipino.
The prosecutor stressed that even the police officers tasked to look over Revilla should be made to explain.
Arrest of other accused ordered
The Sandiganbayan also issued yesterday the arrest orders against former APEC party-list group Rep. Edgard de Leon Valdez who, along with former congresswoman and Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, was indicted for plunder for alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.
The Sandiganbayan found probable cause to proceed with the case filed against the former congressman and his co-accused.
Valdez is accused of pocketing P57.7 million in commissions, while Lanete allegedly got P108.4 million.
The warrants of arrest also covers alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and one John Raymund de Asis. – With Christina Mendez, Cecille Suerte Felipe