But this column is not really about Enrile, but about the Supreme Court decision that granted him bail, overturning a Sandiganbayan decision. What is incomprehensible about the Supreme Court decision is that the reason for granting Enrile his request was not based on the legal arguments that he offered but, rather, on humanitarian, age-related health grounds, which he didn’t even ask for (so sure was he of the strength of his legal arguments).
The high court, in an excess of solicitude, may have forgotten that the Sandiganbayan gave standing orders authorizing that Enrile be taken to any hospital immediately if he exhibits symptoms that cannot be treated at the PNP General Hospital. So there was nothing to worry about, health-wise.
Reader, go to the Supreme Court’s website (
www.sc.judiciary.gov.ph), read the majority decision (16 pages), and then read the dissenting opinion of Associate Justice Marvic Leonen (29 pages). I think you will agree with me that Leonen’s dissent had much more substance in it, and was certainly better argued, than the majority opinion. That his dissent was supported by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio seems to validate my opinion. Those three have competence and integrity in spades. In fact, I got the feeling, when reading the majority opinion, that they first wanted to make sure that Enrile got bail, and then they mustered all the arguments they could, to support that decision.
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