Statement on NBI's Recommendation to File Charges by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan

Atty. Enrique V. De la Cruz Jr., spokesperson of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile today released this following statement from him:

"I regret that the Department of Justice has filed this case after an incomplete, hasty, and partial investigation. That investigation has been accompanied by repeated and deliberate "leaks" and the turnover of 17 boxes of documentary evidence to the DOJ three days after the Department revealed and the President confirmed that a conclusion had already been reached. In the words of Sec. de Lima herself, 'I have to be very candid. We are under extreme pressure to file already a case or cases ASAP ...'

"Let me make clear that I am innocent of the charges filed against me.

"The Filipino people are entitled to a thorough, complete, and impartial investigation so that whatever his rank, whoever is guilty is punished and the innocent are exonerated. That is not the kind of investigation that has been done.

"I therefore trust that the Ombudsman will conduct a thorough, complete, and impartial investigation under due process of law so that justice be done to all. It is with this trust that I will law my case before her. I am therefore ready to fully and honestly cooperate with the investigation to discover not just the truth but the whole truth."