Photo shows high court justices taken for fools
WHEN SUPREME Court Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin wrote the decision to grant bail to Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, he probably believed the latter was really too sick, too weak, too old to be kept in detention and to go through all the life-threatening stress that went with it.
“Hospital arrest” (only in the Philippines!) for the plunder-charged senator was not good enough; letting him go and enjoy the comfort and luxury of his own home was deemed the most “humanitarian” thing.
Seven other “honorable justices” (Arturo Brion, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Mariano del Castillo, Jose Mendoza, Diosdado Peralta, Jose Perez and Prisbitero Velasco) agreed with him.
Of course, as it turned out, they have been had! The front-page photo of Enrile in good health, even in fighting form and already campaigning for Sen. Bongbong Marcos (Front Page, 10/11/15) who has declared he is going it alone as a vice presidential candidate, spoke a thousand words!
Are the justices now squirming on their “thrones” for having been taken for fools? They all should—and apologize to the nation for making a mockery of the plunder case where the Sandiganbayan has found evidence strongly suggesting that the accused pocketed over P170 million of public funds!
But, alack and alas, gone are the days when delicadeza meant a lot to the members of the highest court of the land.
—YVETTE SAN LUIS, [email protected]
