Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
No jail time for Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile鈥攁t least none for now.
The Sandiganbayan on Friday allowed the 90-year-old lawmaker to remain in a private room at a police hospital in Camp Crame, Quezon City, pending the resolution of his petition for bail.
Enrile, the former enforcer of martial law and minister of justice during the Marcos regime, is standing trial for plunder and graft charges in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
In granting the senator鈥檚 petition, the antigraft court鈥檚 Third Division cited the recommendations of a team of doctors from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) who were tasked by the court to determine Enrile鈥檚 physical condition.
In a 16-page resolution penned by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, the court ruled that Enrile鈥檚 various medical conditions warranted his stay at the Philippine National Police General Hospital, where he has been held since his arrest on July 4.
Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Alex Quiroz agreed with Tang鈥檚 decision, with Quiroz issuing a separate three-page concurring opinion.
鈥淎fter considering the findings and recommendations of鈥edical specialists from the PGH鈥� the court is of the considered view that accused Enrile should remain in hospital detention ending the proceedings in these cases,鈥� the court said.
鈥�(P)lacing accused Enrile in a regular jail facility would definitely endanger (his) life. To order his incarceration in a jail facility, which could lead to his possible death, would certainly not serve the purpose of keeping (him) in detention,鈥� it added.
The court said placing the senator under hospital arrest would 鈥渆nsure prompt and adequate response should a medical emergency arise from his established medical conditions.鈥�
However, the court said Enrile would only be allowed to remain in hospital detention 鈥渦ntil he is determined by the doctors to be physically fit for detention鈥� in a regular jail facility managed by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology 鈥渙r until further orders from the court.鈥�
The court also gave 鈥渃ontinuing authority鈥� to the director of the PNP hospital to allow the sickly senator to seek medical attention in another hospital during emergency cases and if the medical services he needed are not available at the police hospital.
It clarified that all medical procedures should be 鈥渁ll at the personal expense of accused Enrile.鈥�
The three-member Third Division noted that doctor Jose Gonzales, PGH director, submitted a medical report and testified in open court on July 14 that Enrile was suffering from 鈥渕edical maladies鈥� that may 鈥減ose a significant risk for life-threatening events.鈥�
It said Gonzales and the other PGH doctors confirmed that Enrile, who reportedly suffered a stroke last February, was diagnosed with chronic hypertension 鈥渨ith fluctuating blood pressure levels on multiple drug therapy.鈥�
The government doctors likewise attested that Enrile was suffering from diffused atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, atrial and ventricular arrhythmia, post nasal drip and age-related macular degeneration.
In opposing Enrile鈥檚 request for hospital detention, the state prosecutors pointed out that the reasons the senator enumerated in his petition were 鈥渄ubious and questionable.鈥�
The prosecution also argued that Enrile鈥檚 claim that the PNP hospital lacked medical equipment was 鈥渉ighly speculative and conjectural.鈥�
But the court said while Enrile鈥檚 conditions were 鈥渕anageable at this time, the fact remains that his collective medical conditions pose a high risk for 鈥榮udden cardiovascular or pulmonary event that could warrant emergency medical treatment.鈥欌��
In his separate concurring opinion, Quiroz argued that Gonzales himself said that his recommendation for Enrile to remain in the hospital 鈥渋s not on the basis of any conclusive finding that there exists a life-threatening condition, but for purposes of assuring immediate medical response.鈥�
鈥淭herefore, the likelihood of a serious, but nonlife-threatening condition escalating and turning into a life-threatening condition, has been the primordial consideration in the grant of accused Enrile鈥檚 motion,鈥� Quiroz said.
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