Court Rebuffs Aquino, Frees Enrile on Bail

The Philippine Supreme Court ordered jailed opposition Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile released on $4,600 bail Tuesday in an apparent setback to President Corazon Aquino’s recent attempts to crack down on alleged coup plotters.

But the high court postponed deciding the more ticklish question of whether the government’s charge of “rebellion with murder” against Enrile and six others is unconstitutional. Enrile’s lawyers insist that the charge, which stems from last December’s failed coup, does not exist.

Shortly before his release Tuesday evening, the former defense secretary said in a telephone interview from his detention quarters that the 15-member court “feels the evidence of the government is not strong enough to warrant my detention.”

“I think the government is going to have a problem,” Enrile, 66, said cheerfully. Even if the case goes to trial, he insisted, the state’s evidence is “fabricated.”

The state attorney, Gen. Francisco Chavez, argued that freeing Enrile, and overturning the law that put him in jail, could lead to freedom for other alleged coup leaders.

“The moment they are out, they are free to continue with their rebellious activities,” Chavez said.

The court voted 10 to 4, with one abstention, to grant bail, however. It said the prospects are “fairly remote” that the wealthy businessman and politician will flee.

In a crowded courtroom, Enrile’s lawyers repeatedly cited a 1956 Supreme Court ruling invalidating the “rebellion with murder” charge. The late President Ferdinand E. Marcos reinstated the dual charge during martial law. But Aquino revoked it after her election in 1986 in a promise to human rights groups, they argued.

About 100 Enrile supporters and an equal number of pro-Aquino protesters gathered outside during the 3 1/2-hour hearing. Enrile, a Harvard-trained lawyer, did not address the justices.