The Sandiganbayan has denied anew the plea for former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to have the testimonies of the witnesses against him in his plunder and graft cases be presented orally in open court during a hearing.

Enrile argued that his constitutional right to confrontation will be "impaired" with the use of judicial affidavits against his will, and he stressed that "where the rules allow him to decide on specific methods to be employed in his trial, such decision must be respected, not negated."

Specifically, Enrile wanted to “require the prosecution to present the direct testimonies of their witnesses, including that of Atty. Ryan P. Medrano’s, in oral form and in open court."

Medrano is the director IV of the Field Investigation Office of the Ombudsman. He was a member of the Graft Investigation and Prosecution Office (GIPO) from 2010 to 2018.

As GIPO, Medrano was one of the members of the Special Team formed by the Ombudsman to conduct fact-finding investigation on the release and use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Enrile for the years 2007 to 2009.

Denying Enrile’s motion for reconsideration, the anti-graft court ruled that there would be no violation of Enrile’s right to confrontation especially since its Jan. 13, 2021 resolution allowed the use of Medrano's judicial affidavit "subject to additional direct and cross-examination questions."

"By allowing the use of the judicial affidavit of Atty. Medrano, Enrile will not be deprived of the opportunity to meet the witness face to face," the court said.

The court’s resolution was written by Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno with the concurrence of Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Bernelito R. Fernandez.

Enrile is facing one plunder and 15 graft charges on his alleged misuse of his PDAF which he allegedly endorsed to the “bogus” non-government organizations (NGOs) owned by Janet Lim Napoles in exchange for “kickbacks.”