Enrile v Sandiganbayan Leonen Dissenting

7/23/2019 Enrile v Sandiganbayan Leonen Dissenting

1/30

EN BANC

GR.

No. 213847 -

JUAN PONCE ENRILE,

Petitioner,

v

SANDIGANBAYAN THIRD DIVISION AND

PEOPLE

OF THE

PHILIPPINES, Respondents.

Promulgated:

August 18,

2015

1\ _

i

\

DISSENTING OPINION

All persons,

except those charged with offenses punishable by

reclusion perpetua when evidence

of

guilt is strong,

shall, before

conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, or be released on

recognizance as may be provided by

law.

The right

to

bail shall not be

impaired even when the privilege

of

the writ

of

habeas corpus

is

suspended. Excessive bail shall not be required.

- CONST. art. IL sec. 13

The

law

in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the

poor to sleep under bridges,

to

beg in the streets, and to steal bread. -

LEONEN, J

I dissent.

The ed

Lily, Chapter

7

1894) by Anatole France,

French novelist 1844-1924)

This Petition for Certiorari should not be granted. The action of the

Sandiganbayan in denying the Motion to Fix Bail was proper. Bail

is

not a

matter

of

right in cases where the crime charged is plunder and the

imposable penalty is

reclusion perpetua.

Neither was there grave abuse

of

discretion by the Sandiganbayan

when it failed to release accused on bail for medical or humanitarian

reasons. His release for medical and humanitarian reasons was not the basis

for his prayer in his Motion to Fix Bail

1

filed before the Sandiganbayan.

Neither did he base his prayer for the grant

of

bail in this Petition on his

medical condition.

The grant of bail, therefore, by the majority is a special

accommodation for petitioner. t is based on a ground never raised before

the Sandiganbayan or in the pleadings filed before this court. The

Sandiganbayan should not be faulted for not shedding their neutrality and

Petition for Certiorari, Annex I


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17/30

Corrected page

Dissenting Opinion

17

GR. No. 213847

date the writer of he majority opinion presents the decision for the

signature of

he Members.

(Emphasis supplied)

But this member endeavored to complete his draft incorporating the

ideas and suggestions

o

other dissenting justices within two days from the

circulation

o

the majority opinion.

In the meantime, media, through various means, got wind

o

the vote

and started to speculate on the contents

o

the majority opinion. This may

have created expectations on the part

o

petitioner s friends, family, and

counsel. The Presiding Justice

o

the Sandiganbayan, while admitting that

the Decision had as yet not been promulgated and served, made

announcements

as

to their readiness to receive the cash bond and process the

release

o

the accused even

i

August 19, 2015 happened to be a holiday in

Quezon City, which was the seat

o

their court.

This is the context

o

the apparent delay in the announcements

regarding the vote and the date

o

promulgation

o

this judgment.

Despite brushing aside all

o

petitioner s arguments, the majority,

instead

o

denying the Petition for Certiorari, grants it on some other ground

that was not even argued nor prayed for by petitioner.

In essence, the majority now insists on granting bail merely on the

basis o the certification in a Manifestation and Compliance dated August

14

2014 by

Dr.

Jose

C.

Gonzales

(Dr.

Gonzales) stating that petitioner

is

suffering from numerous debilitating conditions.

56

This certification was

submitted

as

an annex to a Manifestation

57

before this court regarding the

remoteness

o

the possibility

o

flight

o

the accused not for the purposes

o

asking for bail due to such ailments.

Nowhere

in

the rules

o

procedure do we allow the grant

o

bail based

on judicial notice

o

a doctor s certification. In doing so,

we

effectively

suspend our rules on evidence by doing away with cross-examination and

authentication

o Dr.

Gonzales findings on petitioner s health in a hearing

whose main purpose is to determine whether no kind

o

alternative detention

is possible.

Under Section 2

o

Rule 129

o

the Revised Rules on Evidence:

6

The enumeration o diseases on page 2

o

the ponencia

is

based on the certification o

Dr.

Gonzales.

There

was

a hearing but for the purpose o determining whether hospital arrest can continue. The

hearing was not for the purpose o determining whether bail should

be

granted on the basis

o

his

medical condition.

57

Rollo

p. 373.

A


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30/30

Dissenting Opinion

29 G R

No. 213847

of

Law even in difficult cases. This case does not really present any kind

of

legal complexity

if

we blind ourselves as to who is involved.

t

is

complex

only because it is political.

The grant of provisional liberty to petitioner without any

determination

of

whether the evidence

of

guilt is strong violates the clear

and unambiguous text of the Constitution. It may be that as citizens we

have our own opinions on or predilections for how the balance

of

fundamental rights liberties and obligations should be.

t

may be that as

citizens such opinions are founded on our wealth of knowledge and

experience.

But as members of this court our duty is to enforce the exact textual

formulation

of

the fundamental document written and ratified by the

sovereign. This fealty to the text of the Constitution will provide us with a

stable anchor despite the potential political controversies that swirl over the

legal questions that we need to decide.

t

is also this fealty to the text of the

Constitution that gives this court the legitimacy as the final bastion and the

ultimate sentinel of

the Rule

of

Law.

As the apex

of

the judiciary the very sentinels

of

the Rule

of

Law the

court from whom all other courts like the Sandiganbayan should find

inspiration and courage we should apply the law squarely and without fear

or favor. We should have collectively carried the burden of doing justice

properly and denied this Petition.

Indeed mercy and compassion temper justice. However mercy and

compassion should never replace justice. There is injustice when we as the

court of last resort conveniently rid ourselves of the burden of enforcing the

Rule of Law by neglecting to do the kind of rigorous deliberate and

conscious analysis

of

the issues raised by the parties. There is injustice

when we justify the result we want with ambiguous and unclear standards.

Compassion as an excuse for injustice not only fails us as justices

of

this court.

t

also fails us in our own humanity.

ACCORDINGLY I vote to DISMISS the Petition. The Motion to

Fix Bail should be treated by the Sandiganbayan as a petition for bail under

Rule 114 Section 5

of

the Rules

of

Court.

Enrile v Sandiganbayan Leonen Dissenting

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