DAVAO CITY – The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile did not sit well with human rights groups and with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
In a statement to the press on Thursday the NDFP said they “vigorously (condemn) the rotten justice system of the Aquino regime for allowing Juan Ponce Enrile, accused of plundering many millions of the people’s tax money, to walk free on bail.”
“Accused of the plunder of P 172 million and 15 counts of graft, Enrile is allowed by the GPH Supreme Court to go free on bail of P 1 million and P 30, 000 for each count of graft. The reason given is humanitarian, due to his fragile health and advanced age. But the Philippine National Police General Hospital declares that he is “feeling well”, his blood pressure a normal 130/70,” Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel Luis G. Jalandoni said.
Jalandoni said that the government’s justice system “ignores the rights of many elderly and sick political prisoners, arrested and convicted on trumped up charges of common crimes in gross violation of the GPH’s own Hernandez political offense doctrine and the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).”
According to the NDFP, the number of political prisoners has exceeded 500 under the Aquino administration.
“Enrile, as a chief collaborator of the dictator Marcos, is accountable for numerous crimes against the people. The Marcos dictatorship was found guilty of gross violations of the human rights of the Filipino people in the final judgment of the U.S. Federal Court System,” Jalandoni added.
“This rotten justice system that gives special treatment to the likes of accused plunderer Enrile must be condemned and rejected. It must be replaced by a people’s justice system,” he said. (davaotoday.com)
