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(6th UPDATE) The PNP says it has approved the request of Senator Enrile's family for him to be confined in an air-conditioned room at the Camp Crame hospital
MANILA, Philippines (6TH UPDATE) – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday, July 4, decided to put Senator Juan Ponce Enrile under temporary hospital arrest given his medical condition.
Chief Superintendent Reuben Sindac told a press conference at 6:20 pm that the PNP approved the request of Enrile’s family for him to be confined at the PNP hospital in Camp Crame – in an air-conditioned room.
Watch this report below.
The approval followed a medical examination by a doctor as well as a booking procedure for the 90-year-old senator, where his mugshots and fingerprints were taken. As of 6:30 pm an ambulance was already on standby in front of the multi-purpose hall to bring him to the nearby hospital in the same camp.
Enrile arrived at the hospital at around 6:52 pm.
An Enrile aide told Rappler that the senator needs to have a twice-a-week eye injection and is suffering from high blood pressure. His blood pressure when he was tested at Camp Crame was 200 over 90.
One of his lawyers told reporters they have asked the PNP for permission to bring him to a private hospital on Saturday for his eye injection.
Sindac said the PNP also approved the request of the Enrile family not to release his musghots to the media.
Arrest order
Enrile arrived at Camp Crame at 5:27 pm Friday, July 4, after surrendering to a PNP general and barely two hours after the court ordered his arrest.
He was immediately brought to the multi-purpose hall in Camp Crame where his mugshots and fingerprints were taken and where doctors examined him.
Watch his transfer to the multi-purpose hall.
Seen in the camp with him are his children Jackie Enrile, former Cagayan congressman and defeated 2013 senatorial candidate, and Katrina Enrile.
The Sandiganbayan on Friday afternoon ordered his arrest, along with 4 others, in connection with the graft and plunder charges filed against them by the Ombudsman.
Two other Philipipine senators are already detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame – Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr and Jinggoy Estrada. All are linked to the biggest corruption scandal in recent history that has led to the abolition of lawmakers’ pork barrel and the arrest of the scam’s alleged mastermind, Janet Lim Napoles.
People Power Monument
The warrant against Enrile was served through Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Police Director Benjamin Magalong, who met Enrile at the People Power Monument on EDSA and brought him to Crame. The Enrile convoy (he rode in a white SUV) came from his residence in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City.
Wearing a white long sleeves shirt, he waved at the media upon entering the camp.
The 90-year-old senator had earlier expressed confidence he and his former chief of staff, lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes will be vindicated. (READ: Enrile ready for Crame; Jinggoy to give speech, too)
Reyes arrived at the Sandiganbayan Friday afternoon to submit to its jurisdiction.
According to findings of the Ombudsman, of the 3 senators charged with plunder, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile got the least amount of kickbacks at P172 million (about $4 million). Senator Ramon Revilla Jr got the highest at P224 million (about $5 million), followed by Senator Jinggoy Estrada with P183 million (about $4.1 million). (READ: 3 PH senators charged with plunder over PDAF scam)
Enrile’s case is being heard by the Sandiganbayan’s 3rd division chaired by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang.
Enrile had been arrested before. In 1990, he was arrested for the charge of rebellion complexed with murder for allegedly participating in the 1989 coup attempt against then president Corazon Aquino.
Under the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the former defense minister was also arrested in 2001 for inciting to sedition. Arroyo had declared a state of rebellion then when supporters of Enrile’s ally, former president Joseph Estrada, stormed the Palace in an attempt to oust her. (READ: At 90, Enrile a bundle of contradictions)
Enrile recalled he was arrested in the Senate in 1990. In 2001, he was arrested in his house with then General Reynaldo Berroya. – Rappler.com
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