By Czarina Nicole Ong-Ki
The graft and plunder trial of former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, which was supposed to start this November, was moved to January 14 and 15, respectively, next year.
Juan Ponce Enrile (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
The graft trial will be held every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., while the plunder trial will take place every Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The graft trial was moved because there was still no pre-trial brief, while the plunder trial was postponed because of pending incidents.
In an earlier resolution penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, the anti-graft court already noted that "this case has been dragging on for quite some time already." The trial was then set on October 16, but had been moved to November, only to be rescheduled anew for January.
Enrile is facing one plunder and 15 graft charges because of the reported misuse of his priority development assistance fund (PDAF), which he allegedly endorsed to the bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) owned by Janet Lim Napoles in exchange for kickbacks.
Back in 2015, the Supreme Court allowed Enrile to post bail for his plunder charge out of humanitarian considerations.
Enrile is facing the charges together with his former chief of staff, Jessica "Gigi" Reyes, who is still detained at the Taguig City Jail of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig.
Juan Ponce Enrile (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
The graft trial will be held every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., while the plunder trial will take place every Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The graft trial was moved because there was still no pre-trial brief, while the plunder trial was postponed because of pending incidents.
In an earlier resolution penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, the anti-graft court already noted that "this case has been dragging on for quite some time already." The trial was then set on October 16, but had been moved to November, only to be rescheduled anew for January.
Enrile is facing one plunder and 15 graft charges because of the reported misuse of his priority development assistance fund (PDAF), which he allegedly endorsed to the bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) owned by Janet Lim Napoles in exchange for kickbacks.
Back in 2015, the Supreme Court allowed Enrile to post bail for his plunder charge out of humanitarian considerations.
Enrile is facing the charges together with his former chief of staff, Jessica "Gigi" Reyes, who is still detained at the Taguig City Jail of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig.