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The lawyers of former President Gloria Arroyo cited the Supreme Court’s decision granting bail to Sen Juan Ponce Enrile, among other reasons, in their pending petition for a house arrest before the Sandiganbayan.
In a reply to the prosecution’s opposition, the lawyers of the former President told the Sandiganbayan 1st Division that former President and current Pampanga Representative Aroryo and Sen Enrile are “similarly situated.”
While Enrile’s petition was for bail and Arroyo’s is for house arrest, she is also “of fragile health and is a non-flight risk.”
They also said that “President Arroyo has undergone three major surgeries and she has yet to fully recover from her bone and other illnesses as certified by veteran government doctors.”
Arroyo has a pending request before the anti-graft court for “modified custodial arrangement” either in her La Vista House in Quezon City or in Lubao, Pampanga.
After Arroyo’s reply, the prosecution may submit a rejoinder before the court issues its resolution.
In the decision penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin allowing Enrile bail, the high court ruled that the Sandiganbayan Third Division committed grave abuse of discretion in junking Enrile’s bail petition through its resolutions dated July 14, 2014 and August 8, 2014.
The high court cited the following grounds in granting Enrile’s bail plea:
– bail protects the right of the accused to due process and to be presumed innocent;
– bail may be granted as a matter of right or of discretion of the trial court;
– admission to bail in offenses punished by death, or life imprisonment, or reclusion perpetua is subject to judicial discretion; and
– Enrile’s poor health justifies his admission to bail.
In his bail petition, Enrile had argued that he is not a flight risk and that prosecutors have not presented strong evidence of guilt to deny him bail.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
