Jinggoy: ‘Jail us, but spare Manong Johnny’

Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada yesterday appealed to the national government to spare Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile from the ignominy of being placed behind bars as the state was preparing to arrest them in the wake of the filing of the non-bailable charge of plunder against them and seven others before the Sandiganbayan.

“Hayaan mo na kaming makulong, huwag na lang si Manong Johnny,” Estrada appealed, referring to the 89-year-old senator from Cagayan. (Jail us, but spare Manong Johnny.)

Last Friday, the Office of the Ombudsman filed plunder charges against Enrile, Estrada, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr, suspected pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, and five others for allegedly pocketing kickbacks in connection with the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

Also charged were Enrile’s former chief of staff Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, Estrada’s former deputy chief of staff Pauline Therese Mary Labayen, and Revilla’s staff Richard Cambe, as well as Napoles’ brother Ronald John Lim and associate John Raymund de Asis.

‘I WILL SURRENDER’

Estrada said, “I will not evade arrest. Ako naman kusang susuko sa kanila kung mayroon ilabas na warrant of arrest ang Sandiganbayan. Nakahanda naman kaming humarap sa kaso namin sa Sandiganbayan. (I am ready to surrender the moment the court issues an arrest warrant. We are ready to face the trial court.)

Estrada maintained that he has clean conscience in the pork barrel case.

The camp of Enrile stood on its position not to issue any statement concerning the case.

Estrada, 51, said Enrile has kept his cool on the case.

He recalled Enrile telling him and Revilla, 47, that they would just meet one another at the Sandiganbayan.

Asked about Enrile, Estrada replied: “Ok naman. Siyempre magna-90 years na ang tao. Nakakaawa naman kahit paano. Hayaan mo na kaming makulong, huwag lang is Manong Johnny.”(He is ok. He is already (approaching) 90 years old. I pity him, I hope they will not put him behind bars.)

‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’

Estrada maintained that the filing of the plunder charges against them is politically motivated as Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad and Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Proceso Alcala and other allies of the administration remain untouched although they have been implicated in the scam.

“Yon lang masakit dito,” he said, referring to the constant mention of the names of Abad and Alcala in the pork barrel scam “But up to now, they never lifted a finger to investigate the allies of the administration.”

“Bakit tatlo lang kami?” Estrada asked. (Why just the three of us?)

The filing of the charges followed the dismissal of the motion for reconsideration filed by the three senators before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Estrada expressed surprise by the decision of the Ombudsman to file the charges not long after Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales arrived from New York where she stated in a forum that there is a probable cause to file the information, but she would study their motions for reconsiderations.

TIMING QUESTIONED

Estrada surmised that the filing of the charges could have been done in time for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino on July 28.

“Siyempre ibabandera kaming tatlo. Napakulong namin isang president, tatlong senador sa kanilang anti-corruption drive. Ako naman malinis po ang aking konsensya,” he said. (Of course, he’ll proudly state in his SONA that the Philippine government has put behind bars a former President and three senators in its anti-corruption campaign.)

But Malacañang dismissed Estrada’s allegations.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte noted that the Office of the Ombudsman had enough time to review the case.

“I think the Ombudsman has given enough time to review and to consider all the pieces of evidence that was submitted by the Department of Justice when it comes to this case,” Valte said in an interview with government radio dzRB.

She also stressed that Malacañang has no control over the Office of the Ombudsman, being an independent constitutional commission.

PALACE READY

Meanwhile, Valte said that the government is ready to handle a potential backlash caused by supporters of senators facing arrest over their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

The government is ready to handle the situation in case it reaches such point, Valte said.

“In that case as in any high profile case that involves high profile personalities, gagawin lang po ng ating pamahalaan yung inuutos sa kaniya ng korte at kung ano yung nararapat (the government will follow the court’s orders and do what is right),” she added.

Valte, however, said that the Palace has not received intelligence reports about plans to prevent the impending arrest of those who have been charged with plunder before the Sandiganbayan.

On the other hand, Valte said the Palace supports Senate President Franklin Drilon’s appeal not to arrest the three senators in the Senate premises “as a matter of institutional courtesy.”

The Palace also supports the creation of special courts by the Supreme Court to exclusively try the pork barrel cases.

The Palace official stressed that the Ombudsman’s filing of plunder and graft charges against Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla is “a major step forward in our mission to find out the truth about these anomalies.”

“In the midst of recent misinformation brought about by dishonesty and politicking, the administration remains firmly committed to unearthing the facts,” she said.