Miriam: Enrile house arrest will cause ‘epidemic’

MANILA, Philippines – “If we allow Enrile’s house arrest, everyone in jail will claim to have pneumonia. There will be an epidemic of pneumonia!”

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago turned to humor to oppose calls for the house arrest of her archenemy, detained Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.

Enrile, 91, was rushed to the Makati Medical Center last week for pneumonia, prompting his political allies to ask for “judicial compassion” from the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to allow him house arrest in his Makati residence instead of detention at the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Quezon City.

Yet Santiago said that the constitutional principle of equal protection of the law, and simple fairness are enough bases to reject the calls.

“How many people of his age died in jail waiting for their appeals to be decided? Why are we making an exception for him? If we want persons of that age to stay out of jail, let us have a law. You don’t ask for an exception for one person in a democracy,” Santiago said in a press briefing on Thursday, March 5.

The woman Enrile called his “bitter, obsessive hater” said that VIP treatment for the senator violates due process.  

“It is completely prohibited for the law to seek special treatment just for one person alone, no matter how ill he might be unless he is at the point of death. After that he will have to return to wherever he came from,” she added then laughed.

Enrile has been detained since July 2014 over plunder charges in relation to the pork barrel corruption scam. Along with Senators Ramon Revilla Jr and Jinggoy Estrada, he is accused of funneling development funds meant for the poor to bogus non-governmental organizations in exchange for multimillion-peso kickbacks.

Enrile’s son, former Cagayan Representative Juan Ponce “Jack” Enrile Jr, said Thursday that his father is against house arrest, and prefers preparing for his trial in the police facility. The senator’s health is improving, and he will likely be discharged next week.

Enrile and Santiago have had a complex rivalry for decades, which exploded in an exchange of personal, ugly speeches on the Senate floor in 2013.

‘What about Gloria?’

Santiago cited the case of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, known as GMA, to further argue against Enrile’s house arrest. Arroyo is detained over various corruption charges at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

“The law says we must treat persons similarly situated in the same manner, otherwise it’s unconstitutional,” Santiago said. “Immediately we have a problem because how come GMA, a former President, was given hospital arrest, while Enrile, a former Senate President, will be given house arrest?”

Those calling for Enrile’s house arrest are his close allies, Vice President Jejomar Binay, Acting Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III, and some representatives.

A former trial court judge, Santiago delivered a mini-lecture to show that the issue was a “no-brainer.”

“I will teach you something. When there is a constitutional problem, immediately say: due process of law or equal protection of law. Just those two. Does it violate or comply with those? Just say those two and you will look like an authority!”

She said that when she was a judge at the Quezon City Trial court, she had a “no-postponement policy.”

“This court will not grant postponements for any reason, except death, and if you claim to die, you better be dead because I’ll kill you anyway. What they did so they will not be sanctioned or cited for contempt of court, they claimed to have diarrhea,” Santiago said. 

“I was surprised at the extent of diarrhea in the Philippines, at least in Metro Manila!” – Rappler.com