Revilla may join Senate ‘pork’ probe if it won’t be a ‘kangaroo court’, says lawyer
Janet Lim-Napoles and Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. may eventually join the Senate investigation into the alleged P10 billion “pork barrel” scam so long as it would not turn into a “kangaroo” court, his lawyer has said.
While Revilla had indicated that he would not join the Senate probe, his lawyer, Joel Bodegon, said they advised the senator “to be ready to appear.”
“He won’t have any problems in the investigation if Mrs Janet Lim-Napoles would appear in the Senate. In fact, when he was interviewed, he said: Dapat mag appear na sya para matapos na ito,” the lawyer said in a recent interview over the phone.
Napoles, who allegedly masterminded the scam, was subpoenaed by the Senate to appear on Thursday.
“So whether or not he (Revilla) wants to be present, that’s up to him but he had already indicated that it might not be the right time because the senators might be pre-empted …there might be a negative implication for the senators. They might hesitate to ask questions,” Bodegon said.
Article continues after this advertisementAsked if there was still a possibility that Revilla would participate in the hearing, Bodegon said: “Yes because that’s an investigation. If you know that you didn’t do anything wrong then shouldn’t you face it?”
Article continues after this advertisement“And our advice to him is that he should be ready to appear. But you know, we have to discuss first about what he really wants. The problem there is if it becomes a kangaroo type of hearing, why do you have to participate?”
Bodegon said they would like to make sure that their client would not be “unfairly treated” should he decide to appear in the hearing.
“We are always for orderly procedure and the senator wants that,” he said.
Bodegon said he and other members of Revilla’s legal team were having continuing discussion on the matter though in the end, he said, it would still be the senator who would make an “informed judgment.”
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