A selfie he posted on Facebook on Wednesday showed former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. looking glum and distraught inside his room at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center, with a fitting caption to mark his fourth year in detention and his sentiments after being away from his family: “Pagod na pagod (so exhausted),” the former actor lamented in his post.
By Friday, the caption might as well read: “Buking na buking (busted).”
That’s because the PNP confiscated Revilla’s cell phone, a device considered a contraband in detention facilities, after media reported widely on the former senator’s selfie.
In a statement on Friday, PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Benigno Durana said Revilla’s cell phone had already been confiscated following an inspection of the Custodial Center by the PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS).
Apparent breach
“An investigation is being conducted by the HSS to determine the circumstances surrounding that apparent breach of regulations despite [its] at least twice a week unannounced inspections of all the cell blocks. The ax will fall where it should the moment an investigation clearly establishe[s] the culpability of any personnel,” Durana said.
Although Revilla had been in the custodial facility since 2014 after being implicated in the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, his social media account showed that he had been personally posting on Facebook only recently.
But his June 20 selfie was particularly damning as it showed that Revilla had the contraband inside his detention room.
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima, who has been in custody for more than a year on drug charges, has been similarly denied a cell phone, computer and other media devices, and has been known to write her notes on the country’s political landscape by hand, which her friends and family then post on social media.