Revilla supporters gather at Senate, accuse Palace of orchestrating case vs 3 senators

MANILA, Philippines—Supporters of beleaguered  Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.  gathered  outside the Senate on Monday  to protest what  they  described as political persecution and  harassment  against him.

The protesters belonging to the  group “Koalisyon ng Maralita Kontra Korap” started to gather  ahead of Revilla’s  scheduled  privilege speech when session opens at 3:30 p.m. this Monday.

They were wearing red   shirts and carrying placards that read “Politika vs Katotohanan” (Politics vs  Truth), “Itigil ang Panggigipit”  (Stop the harassment) and “Sen. Bong  biktima ng maruming politika ” (Sen. Bong, victim of dirty politics).

“We are calling on Ombudsman (Conchita Carpio –Morales) to be  fair, and not to  focus only  on the  three senators,”  the group’s spokesman, Nestor Villanueva, said in Filipino.

The  three embattled senators are  Revilla, Juan Ponce-Enrile and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada. They were among several politicians and personalities indicted for plunder before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly pocketing huge kickbacks from their pork barrel allotments. Also charged with plunder were businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and five others.

Villanueva said their group is convinced that  Malacañang was behind  the charges against  Revilla et al.

He said they would hold the rally until 5 p.m., but their fight would continue until Revilla would be given due process.

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