SC denies bid to have Bong Revilla transferred to jail in Quezon City

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. (File photo by NESTOR CORRALES / INQUIRER.net)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied the bid of the Office of the Ombudsman to transfer the detention of former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and two others charged in connection with a multibillion-peso pork barrel scam to a local jail under the supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

In September 2014, the Office of the Ombudsman sought the transfer to a local jail in Quezon City of Revilla, his chief of staff Richard Cambe, and principal accused Janet Lim-Napoles.

In affirming the Sandiganbayan’s ruling, the high court said: “Yhe Sandiganbayan did not gravely abuse its discretion as the PNP Custodial Center is considered a jail and there is nothing in the law or the rules that provide that the accused must be confined in a BJMP facility.”

Revilla and Cambe are detained the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame in Quezon City, while Napoles is in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. /atm