Caught the Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile this morning being interviewed by Karen Davila on Headstart at ANC. And I can’t resist quoting his words:
“I stretched the rules of evidence in favor of the Defense, so they would not complain of grave abuse of discretion on our part.”
“In the beginning I was trying to give the Chief Justice the benefit of the doubt.”
“I don’t understand why the Defense called the Ombudsman and they could not even qualify if she is a hostile witness.”
“No legal or financial mind can invent the content of the AMLC document.”
“I will not accuse him of lying but they were not ready to bring the quantum of evidence needed to explain Corona’s assets.”
“There was some degree of inconsistency in the totality of Corona’s defense.”
“He was measured and I think he failed.”
“He was appointed at Chief Justice, I would presume he was fit as a lawyer to hold the position.”
“I based my decision on evidence. I studied the Corona case more than the Prosecutors and Defense.”
Oh, and I just love it when he said that he made a listing of the Senators who will vote during the judgment then he pulled out the list from his wallet and showed it to Karen Davila. It’s a list of the committed, the uncommitted (his name was included here) and the three names for acquittal. He was right on target, the three names appeared to be Arroyo, Marcos and Santiago.
Nice penmanship Manong. Let me continue:
“Supreme Court cannot review our decision. The Senate Impeachment Court is outside the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.”
He said further that the president cannot appoint an outsider. They should come from the remaining fourteen members of the Supreme Court. He was asked whose speech he liked the most when the senators explained their votes and he said: “Lito Lapid”. He will support VP Binay for president in 2016 but unsure of who will be his VP, saying that either Escudero or Estrada would be okay. He loves reading and memorizing poems and watching old films on TV. He’s 88 years old but his mind is so sharp. Nice job Manong Johnny!
(thanks again ANC for the grabbed pic and to Phil. Inquirer for JPE’s photo)
Dreams And Escapes 
I never knew Sen. Enrile was this brilliant a public servant prior the Corona Impeachment trial, to be honest. I only had vague memories of him when together with Sen. Honasan and Ex-Pres. Ramos, they staged what caused the downfall of the Marcos Regime. In my humble opinion, what he did and how he did it to preside the first-ever Impeachment trial of the Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines is worth of praise! Well done Manong Johnny!
~ Taken from my current Facebook status. 🙂
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Well said Maricel! Nakakatuwa yung interview niya kanina! Pati yung mga movies na pinapanuod niya.
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Tama po! Iba talaga brilliance ni manong! I was able to read this kasi hinahanap ko yung sinabi nya tungkol sa roles in life the we play, nakuha nyo po ba yun?
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He said: I’m an avid reader of history. I believe man must play a role in life. I never got bothered by opinions of others. I know myself.”
Thank you Sionie for the visit!
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Senator Enrile could have been the best president the Philippines never had-tsk tsk tsk! ! !
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