Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba is urging Ombudsman Samuel Martires to revoke the P1-million bail bond of former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.
In a letter received by the Office of the Ombudsman, Mamba and former Buguey Mayor Ignacio Taruc said Enrile is still very much capable of launching a nationwide campaign over his bid to seek a Senate seat in the 2019 midterm polls, therefore his provisional liberty granted by the Sandiganbayan for health reasons must be revoked.
He accused Enrile and his men of oppression through false charges committed in their province in the past 40 years.
“Juan Ponce Enrile is, and has always been a liar and plunderer, no matter how frail he may look. Please, do not be moved by his deception,” he said.
To seek a Senate seat would entail a strenuous nationwide campaign, Mamba said.
He said Enrile must be held culpable for his role during the martial law under the Marcos regime.
Enrile is facing 15 graft charges and plunder before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division for his involvement in the P172-million pork barrel fund scam linked to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
In 2015, the Supreme Court granted Enrile’s bail petition for humanitarian considerations because of his old age and poor health.
But at the weekly Kamuning Bakery’s Pandesal Forum in Quezon City, Enrile, 94, shrugged off Mamba and Taruc’s accusations against him.
“I leave it to the good judgment of the Ombudsman and the Supreme Court. They [complainants] have not done so much for the progress of the province. They just talk and talk,” he said.
He said his health has improved a lot after his release from detention at the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame, Quezon City.
“They hate me. They have nothing good to say about me,” he said.
Enrile called the Mamba family an ingrate, saying he even recommended Mamba’s appointment as mayor in Tuao town in 1988.
The former senator said he would make use of the social media in his campaign.
In the same forum, Enrile said he is seeking a Senate seat in 2019 because he wants to help correct the “errors” in the federal charter drafted by the Consultative Committee.
“The real reason why I am running again is because I studied the Con-Com’s proposed constitution. I noticed there were too many errors.”
He said the shift to a federal form of government would entail a huge budget. “It’s wrong, and the Filipino people would suffer more [under federalism],” he told reporters.
“How much additional budget would be needed to create federalism. Where would they [government] get the funding?” he said.
“The money come from you, [or] from our pockets. Can we afford that? No analysis has ever been done [about it],” Enrile said.
He also challenged the draft charter’s provision during the transition period.
“The last part of the proposed constitution tells about the transition. I see a gap. What constitution should we used during the gap?” he asked.
Enrile also questioned the budget allocation for the one-year transition period.
The Department of Budget and Management earlier said the equalization fund in the draft federal charter to help regions become economically viable and sustainable would be an “added fiscal burden” to the national government.
Con-Com spokesperson Conrado Generoso had claimed otherwise, saying the equalization fund would not be an additional burden since the fund would already be part of the regional expenditures of the national government.