Tag: juan ponce enrile

Acts of kindness to the fallen

Published by Ellen on July 6, 2014

Lawyer Edward Serapio, former presidential counsel during the Estrada administration, once told me when he was under detention in Camp Crame in connection with Estrada’s plunder case way back in 2001, that he was so grateful for the wife of then Philippine National Police head Leandro Mendoza serving him coffee when he surrendered early in the morning at the White House, the PNP chief’s residence.

Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile surrenders. From Yahoo.ph

One can imagine Serapio’s level of stress at that moment and he said Mrs. Mendoza’s act of kindness did a lot to calm him down. He said he’ll never forget it.

Yesterday, Sen. Juan Ponce- Enrile thanked the PNP for treating him kindly, allowing him to stay at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame upon his surrender last Friday and allowing him to have his check up at the Asian Eye Institute in Makati the next day.

At this time when the popular sentiment is to throw stones at all those accused in the plunder of people’s money (Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla et al), any act kindness to those who are down is the true essence of humanity.

It is not about the guilt of the accused. It is humaneness.

While we should be vigilant that justice is obtained in the pork barrel scam, we should also be conscious of the danger that in pursuing justice, we become hardened and lose our sense of humanity. That would be a tragedy.

The return of Gigi Reyes

Published by Ellen on April 20, 2014

This is going to be fascinating.

Atty. Gigi Reyes, former chief of staff of Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile who is included among those accused of plunder in connection with the misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund, came back last Saturday.

Reyes left last August when her name came up as one of those who were dealing directly with pork barrel operator Janet Napoles . She was reported to have gone to Macau, then to other countries.

In the resolution approved last April 1, the Ombudsman said they found probable cause for Enrile ,Reyes, Napoles, Ruby Tuason, Ronald John Lim, and Raymond de Asis to have committed plunder.

Plunder is punishable by lifetime imprisonment and forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth in favor of government.
The Ombudsman also found cause to indict Reyes together with Enrile and others for 15 counts of violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).

Holy Week in prison for Enrile, Estrada, Revilla?

Published by Ellen on April 1, 2014

Now that the Ombudsman has approved the resolution to file plunder charges against those involved in the malversation of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, it looks like Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla would be observing their Holy Week in jail.

It is reported that Revilla and his family are in Holy Land to seek for “divine intervention.” Let’s see if his wish would be granted.

The accused will be given time to submit a motion for reconsideration, after which the Ombudsman will file the Information with the Sandiganbayan. The graft court will determine whether there’s a basis for the case to proceed.

NBI files plunder raps vs Enrile, Revilla, Estrada, Napoles

Published by Ellen on September 16, 2013

By VERA Files THE National Bureau of Investigation filed on Monday afternoon plunder and malversation of public funds charges against Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.,…

Gutter talk in the Senate is good

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2013

JPE. Thanks to Yahoo for this photo by Voltaire DomingoNPPA Images

Of course, what has been going on in the Senate the past weeks is disgusting.

But it is good that it is happening.

Alan Peter Cayetano standing up to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile

If the controversy over the discriminatory distribution of Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile of the Senate Christmas loot – P1.6 million for the 18 senators and P250,000 for the four whom JPE does not like namely Senators Miriam Santiago, Antonio Trillanes IV, Pia Cayetano and Alan Cayetano- the public would not have known how they are skewered by the people they are spending billions on supposedly to serve them.

If Enrile didn’t become petty and arrogant and gave all the 22 senators, even including himself, the same amount, we would not have known that they are wallowing in excess funds while millions of Filipinos survive in a hand-to-mouth existence.

Hindi happy ang mamamayan sa ginawa ni Enrile

Published by Ellen on January 13, 2013

Note: Enrile’s statement at the end column

May mga sitwasyun na kailangan mo ang mga katulad ni Sen. Miriam Santiago na magsasabi ng gusto mo sabihin ngunit hindi mo masasabi.

Mabuti naman at umalma si Santiago tungkol sa pamumudmud ni Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile ng P1.6 milyon sa 18 na senador maliban sa apat na hindi niya kursunada.

Ang apat na senador hindi niya kursunada ay sina Santiago, Antonio Trillanes IV, Allan Cayetano, Pia Cayetano. P250,000 lang ang binigay niya sa apat.

Ang pera ay savings daw ng Senado. Ipinasok ni Enrile ang P1.6 milyon bilang dagdag sa “Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE)” ng mga senador.

The sad, dramatic, if redeeming, life of Juan Ponce Enrile

Published by Ellen on October 6, 2012

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

The 753-page of “Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir” has many things going for it.
For one, the simple yet striking cover layout doesn’t call attention to itself and for another, it is well-edited (by Nelson Navarro) which makes for smooth, easy reading. It is, by turn, a no-nonsense book about someone’s life as he lived it and how he survived it.

Divided into two parts ( “With God and Guts” and “Making A difference”), the memoir has a unique voice you can’t mistake for a politician’s. The narrative flows with ease as the subject recalls the poverty-stricken barrio of his birth and ending his joining the government in the first part.
The first part is easily the most engrossing and the most poignant. The author – now well-known and famous — recalls the abject poverty of his past with startling details.

Born February 14, 1924, Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) admits he was a love child baptized in the Aglipayan Church as Juanito Furagganan. His father, Alfonso Ponce Enrile, was born from parents from Baliwag, Bulacan. He notes that his grandfather, Damaso Ponce, was first cousin to Mariano Ponce of La Soledaridad, the propaganda arm of the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

Word war at the Senate

Published by Ellen on September 19, 2012

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday accused Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile of being a “GMA lackey” for supposedly rushing a bill that would cut…

Lagman’s head for Enrile’s vote in Corona impeachment

Published by Ellen on April 22, 2012

Juan Ponce Enrile — Does not forget and forgive

Poor Gus Lagman. He didn’t know what hit him.

Never did he imagine that we would be a collateral damage in President Aquino’s rabid pursuit to make Gloria Arroyo accountable for her crimes against the Filipino people.

As a commissioner in the Commission on Election, never did it cross Lagman’s mind that he would be a factor in the impeachment against Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona, which is related to Aquino’s crusade against Arroyo.

Last week, Communications Strategy Secretary Ricky Carandang announced that the President would not issue an ad-interim appointment for Lagman, who has not been confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, chaired by Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile because they have been informed by CA members that “ it will be difficult, if not impossible, to confirm him.”

A life in the day of Juan Ponce Enrile

Published by Ellen on February 26, 2012

By Bibeth Orteza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

(Editor’s Note: The author set out to observe a day in the life of her husband’s uncle, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, as he presides over what is one of the most important trials in the country’s history—the impeachment of the Supreme Court Chief Justice. Graciously welcomed by her subject into his home and allowed to tag along to the trial, she came away with much more than just the details of a daily routine. The star of the moment obliged her with a sometimes tearful recollection of his life, enough material perhaps for a scriptwriter like the author and a director like her husband Carlitos Siguion-Reyna to turn into a riveting movie.)

8:15 a. m.

The man of the house is still in his bedroom. Sally Moneda, his cook and personal assistant of 26 years, reminds his close-in aide, Julius Gumban, not to take away the newspaper as “he has not read Bernas [constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, who writes an opinion column in the Inquirer–Ed].”