Revilla moving heaven and earth to stop arrest
Pacade of Sandiganbayan, Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr. (inset). INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., like everyone else, does not relish the prospect of spending a moment behind bars, even if he’s probably played movie characters who ended up in the slammer.
His lawyers are exhausting all legal means to stop his arrest, detention and prosecution for plunder in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam whereas two of his co-accused—Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile— appeared resigned to the inevitability of arrest.
On Saturday, Revilla’s lawyers filed two motions in the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court— one for judicial determination of probable cause and the other for the deferment or suspension of proceedings.
In essence, the second motion sought to stop the Sandiganbayan from proceeding with the plunder trial, arguing that a civil case he filed against scam whistleblowers in Bacoor, Cavite, should have precedence over the criminal case.
And if these motions are thrown out, lawyer Joel Bodegon said, they would bring the case to the Supreme Court by filing a petition for certiorari.
“If you are in his shoes, you will not also want to be jailed,’’ the senator’s counsel said by phone.
Only when all the legal remedies have been exhausted will Revilla accept the reality of detention, Bodegon said.
Revilla’s main motivation for filing all these pleadings, however, is not to avoid jail but to seek justice, Bodegon added.
All three senators, now facing arrest on plunder charges filed against them by the Ombudsman last Friday in connection with the scam, have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
In September 2013, Revilla filed a case in a court in Bacoor, asking that it nullify the documents presented by the whistleblowers as basis to file plunder and malversation complaints against him and 38 others in the Office of the Ombudsman.
Estrada, speaking over radio, said his colleague and fellow actor, Revilla, has perhaps spent time in jail at least in the movies he’s starred in.
“He’s OK,’’ he said of Revilla. “We can’t do anything about it (being jailed) if that’s the wish of the administration.’’
Before his foray into politics, Revilla made a name as an action star, topbilling movies about legendary heroes like “Ang Panday,’’ among others.
Estrada said he would not evade arrest but would even volunteer to surrender to the Sandiganbayan, or the Philippine National Police once the warrant for his arrest is out. In the past, Estrada was detained for two years on plunder charges that were later dismissed.
“We’re ready to face the case in the Sandiganbayan,’’ he said over dzMM. If at all, he said, he was saddened only by the prospect of spending time in jail away from his wife and children.
Estrada said the 90-year-old Enrile should be spared detention. “Let us be the ones jailed, spare Manong Johnny,’’ he said.
Enrile, in an interview at the session hall on May 21, said he was ready to be arrested even inside the Senate session hall.
“That’s possible,’’ Enrile said about the prospect of the warrant being served at the session hall. “It’s all right. They can serve it anywhere.’’
Enrile said it was even “better’’ for the arresting officers to arrest him in the Senate.
“I was served a warrant here inside the session hall in 1990,’’ he said of his arrest for the crime of rebellion complex with murder.
The senator recalled that Alfredo Lim, then director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), served the warrant on him. He even delivered a privilege speech before he was taken to the NBI headquarters in Manila.
Years later, when he was charged with a non-bailable offense in connection with the May 1, 2001 siege of Malacañang, Enrile said he agreed to be arrested at home. “They went to my house. They asked permission to go to my house,’’ he said.
Both cases were eventually dismissed.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said he would request the Sandiganbayan not to serve the warrant on the senators inside the Senate building out of courtesy for the Senate as an institution.
RELATED STORIES
Ombudsman files plunder raps vs Napoles, Enrile, Estrada, Revilla
Revilla to ask Sandigan to stop arrest over ‘pork’ scam
