The Sandiganbayan is set to promulgate its verdict on former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.’s P224.5-million plunder case on Dec. 7, at 8:30 a.m.
The anti-graft court First Division made the announcement in a supplemental order dated Nov. 5 and signed by Sandiganbayan Justices Efren Dela Cruz, Geraldine Faith Econg, and Edgardo Caldona. This will be the first judgment in the multi-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Revilla was among the so-called “PDAF-scam senators” running for Senate in the 2019 midterm elections, along with Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile.
In June 2014, the Office of the Ombudsman indicted them for plunder in connection with the multi-billion pesos Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam. Revilla was arrested on June 20, 2014.
The fraud involved channeling of lawmakers’ PDAF allocations into ghost projects in over 10 years using bogus nongovernment organizations.
READ: WHAT WENT BEFORE: Napoles and the pork barrel scam
Revilla is still detained at Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City, while Estrada and Enrile are currently out on bail while their cases are on trial and pre-trial, respectively.
The 94-year-old Enrile was released on bail in 2015 due to “humanitarian reasons,” with the Supreme Court citing his poor health and old age, while the Sandiganbayan granted Estrada’s bail petition on Sept. 15, 2017. /je
(Photo from Vince Nonato, Philippine Daily Inquirer)