Enrile blasts Sandigan on Reyes bail denial

Images by. Imagehttp://news.abs-cbn.com Former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile assailed the continuing injustice done on his former chief of staff lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi Reyes” whose petition for bail was denied last Friday by anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.

Enrile, in a televised interview, said the ruling was “an unfortunate decision.” Reyes was the chief of staff of Enrile.

“Gigi Reyes is innocent of the charges against her, the charges are all based on fabricated evidence,” Enrile said.

“Are we going to destroy the presumption of innocence of people under the Constitution on the basis of evidence like this?” Enrile added.

“What kind of justice do we have in this country? Sayang lang yung ginawa naming rebolusyon para tumino ang bansang ito (The 1986 revolution we staged was just put to waste),” he added.

Enrile, then defense minister, along with former President Fidel Ramos, who was then the head of the Philippine Constabulary, broke away from former President Marcos in 1986 that sparked the People Power revolt.

In reference to both Reyes and former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. who remained detained, Enrile said: “Given the fact that they’ve been detained for some time now, I think there’s no way for them to escape or avoid the charge, they should be given at least temporary liberty, by way of bail.”

In the ruling, the Sandiganbayan said “the Court finds the evidence against accused-movant Reyes to be strong.”

Nonetheless, the Sandiganbayan said the resolution denying Reyes’ bail plea “does not in any manner determine the ultimate outcome of these cases.”

The Sandiganbayan based its decision on “detailed testimonies” of whistle-blowers Benhur Luy, Merlina Suñas and Marina Sula “on how the entire (pork barrel) scheme took place.”

The trio were the supposed star witnesses in the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam that led to the indictment of Senators Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Revilla for non-bailable plunder.