De Lima forms task force to probe Enrile

MANILA, Philippines – Taking her cue from Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima formed a team to investigate the alleged crimes of Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile. 

De Lima ordered the creation of a Department of Justice (DOJ)-National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) special task force to probe the crimes Santiago attributed to Enrile in a privilege speech at the Senate last December 4. These include illegal gambling, smuggling and falsifying his declared assets. Read the full speech here. 

The justice secretary issued Department Order 994 released Friday, December 20, constituting the 7-member task force to be headed by DOJ Undersecretary Jose Justiniano.

The order was issued “in the interest of the service, pursuant to provisions of existing laws and acting on the 5 December 2013 letter of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago requesting for the investigation of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile for alleged crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code as elaborated in her speech ‘Navigating the Crimes of the Plunder Mastermind.’”

De Lima tasked the following officials and lawyers of DOJ and NBI to investigate Enrile:

1. Undersecretary Jose Justiniano – chairman
2. Assistant State Prosecutor Niven Canlapan, National Prosecution Service (NPS) – member
3. Assistant State Prosecutor Nolibien Quiambao, NPS – member
4. State Counsel IV Adonis Sulit, legal staff – member
5. State Counsel I Charles Romulus Cambaliza, legal staff – member
6. Lawyer Jonathan Mengullo, Anti-Graft Division of the NBI – member
7. Lawyer Catherine Camposano, Anti-Graft Divisionof the NBI – member

Martial law ‘crimes’ excluded

De Lima mandated the task force to investigate the former Senate President for the following alleged crimes Santiago mentioned in her speech:

1. Illegal importation or smuggling of vehicles through the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) in conspiracy with Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Jose Mari Ponce and James Kocher, Enrile’s son-in-law who runs an automobile importing operation inside the CSEZFP and who is allegedly involved in smuggling
2. Illegal gambling through the CSEZFP by the grant of CSEZFP franchises to entities to operate and engage in online gambling via a “master license” issued to First Cagayan License and Resort Corporation authorizing it to issue 7-year licenses to foreign entities to operate online gambling, and a license issued to Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation authorizing it to conduct gaming operations, including jai-alai in the Cagayan Freeport and to set up betting stations
3. Illegal logging through San Jose Lumber whose license expired in 2007
4. Submission of falsified Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth
5. Other related acts constituting criminal offenses

The list did not include Santiago’s allegation that Enrile has command responsibility for deaths and disappearances during martial law. Enrile was defense minister during the presidency of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

In a previous interview, De Lima said, “Even if we are willing [to investigate], maybe the chance of uncovering those things is remote … and difficult because of the long time that has passed.”

De Lima ordered the task force to recommend possible legal action including filing criminal complaints for preliminary investigation, requesting an investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council, and filing civil cases for forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth in coordination with the Solicitor General.

“The Special Task Force shall make regular reports directly to the Secretary of Justice and submit its final report within 3 months from receipt hereof,” De Lima said.

Santiago delivered a scathing privilege speech against Enrile last December 4. In the speech, the senator accused him of being a “king of a smuggling empire,” “anticipated king of gambling empire,” and “king of martial law illegal logging empire.”

Santiago said Enrile orchestrated the crimes in CEZA, which was created with a law he sponsored.

The speech was also peppered with personal attacks as Santiago branded her bitter rival a “psychopathic hypersexualized serial womanizer” and detailed his alleged affair with his resigned chief of staff Gigi Reyes.

Santiago then wrote De Lima formally asking for an investigation into Enrile’s alleged crimes.

The senator delivered her speech in response to the personal attacks Enrile also raised in his own speech on November 27. Enrile was retaliating for Santiago’s allegation that he was the mastermind of the multi-billion pork barrel scam.

The DOJ already filed a plunder complaint before the Ombudsman against Enrile and 37 others over the scam, where he allegedly funneled his pork barrel funds to fake non-governmental organizations in exchange for kickbacks. De Lima though said that the scam was a conspiracy, and “the act of one is the act of all.”

Enrile: No hanky-panky

After Santiago delivered her speech, Enrile addressed Santiago’s allegations on the Senate floor. 

“I have no interest [in CEZA] except to develop the place in order to give jobs to the people where I came from and this chamber is open to scrutinize the operations there, there’s nothing being hidden from anybody. The law that was passed and attributed to me was debated in Congress and passed in the House of Representatives where I was at that time and this Senate.”

“I must say anybody can check the operations in CEZA to find out whether there is any smuggling there or any shenanigan, hanky-panky of any company operating in that place,” Enrile added.

The minority leader has downplayed his fierce word war with Santiago, even joking about the tense exchange that some of their colleagues sought to strike out of the Senate records.

“Huwag lang niyang sabihin ako ang may kasalanan sa Yolanda, o ang Panginoong Hesukristo pinako ko sa Golgotha, o kaya baka sabihin niya baka ako bumaril kay [Jose] Rizal.”

(She should not blame me for Yolanda, or say I crucified Jesus Christ in Golgotha, or say I was the one who shot Rizal dead.) – Ayee Macaraig / Rappler.com