Revilla’s 43 bank accounts, other assets for garnishment

MANILA, Philippines—Dozens of bank accounts, real properties, vehicles and shares of stock in country clubs and private firms owned by detained Sen. Bong Revilla and his wife, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado, were ordered garnished by the Sandiganbayan for the duration of the senator’s trial for plunder in connection with the multimillion-peso pork barrel scam.

The garnishment order covered 43 bank accounts in nine banks; 28 real properties, including homes in Ayala Alabang and Bacoor, Cavite province; 15 vehicles, including several high-end ones; and shares of stocks in 15 golf clubs and private companies.

The Sandiganbayan First Division on Friday listed several assets found under the couple’s name that will be placed under the court’s custody while it decides whether Revilla had, as the prosecution alleged, illegally amassed P224,512,500 by causing the diversion of his pork barrel, officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund, to fake nongovernment organizations controlled by alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Houses and cars

The garnished real properties are located in Muntinlupa City; Tanay, Rizal province; and in Silang, Dasmariñas and other unspecified municipalities in Cavite. The largest was a 14,834 square meter lot in Silang, while the smallest was a 125 sq m lot in Tagaytay City.

It also includes a 658 sq m house and lot in Ayala Alabang and a 443 sq m house and lot in Bacoor, Cavite.

The 15 vehicles include a Lexus LX570 wagon; BMW 730 LI; Isuzu NHR and Hyundai Starex van (declared in the senator’s 2012 SALN); Cadillac Escalade (acquired in 2004); Mitsubishi Montero (2012); Nissan Frontier Navarra (2009); Toyota Innova Wagon (2013);

Toyota HiAce Grandia (2010); Toyota Innova Wagon (2008); Mitsubishi Adventure GLX 2006; Toyota Jeep 2003; Mitsubishi L300 2000; Hyundai Starex van; and a Fuso Jitney (1995).

Shares of stock

The garnished shares of stocks were those registered under Jose Marie Mortel Bautista and Jesusa H. Bautista based on the records of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The couple owned shares in RRJ Films, RRJ Trading, Trucking Corp. and Nature Concepts Development and Realty Corp. (formerly Lady Tiger Realty Inc.);

Manila Southwoods, Royal Tagaytay and Country Club, Fairways and Blue Water, Subic Yacht Club, Palms Country Club, Sports Club-Riviera Golf and Sports, Natures, Villa Jose Jacinta, Jomarog Inc., Alabang Country Club, San Miguel Corp., GMA 7 Network and Villa Jose Jacinta.

‘Greatly disappointed’

In a statement, Revilla said he was “greatly disappointed over the seeming haste of the court to attach my properties—the fruits of my legitimate labor and hard work.”

“Almost all of the properties they have attached were acquired long before I became senator. Even the fruits of my compensation from GMA 7 were attached,” he said.

Revilla also decried that even the ancestral home of the Revilla clan where his father lives was covered by the order.

Asset search

The antigraft court said it identified the assets based on the senator’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), bank inquiries conducted by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as authorized by the Court of Appeals, and the lifestyle check that the Office of the Ombudsman is conducting.

The court ordered the head of the Sandiganbayan’s Sheriff and Security Services to, within 60 days, “secure and attach so much of the properties of accused Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr… as may be sufficient to satisfy the (prosecution’s) demand in an amount not exceeding P224,512,500 in value.”

The order did not cover credit card and closed bank accounts.

To ensure recovery of P224M

On Thursday, the antigraft court granted the request of state prosecutors to garnish Revilla’s monies and properties to ensure that the government will recover the P224 million he allegedly took from the pork barrel illegally.

In its order, the court noted that Revilla has publicly confirmed that he closed several of his bank accounts when the pork barrel scam was exposed in the media.

The garnished bank accounts were under the names Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. (his legal name), Jose Marie Bautista (his name at birth), Lani Mercado Revilla and Jesusa Victoria Bautista (her real name).

The Sandiganbayan First Division is chaired by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz with Associate Justices Rodolfo Ponferrada and Rafael Lagos as members.

Say it isn’t so

In his statement, Revilla noted that in its resolution of prosecution’s motion to garnish his properties, the First Division cited as basis the denial of his motion for bail, “which in truth is still under reconsideration and has yet to attain finality.”

“Does this now mean that my motion for reconsideration has already been prejudged and will ultimately be denied? Does this also mean that our motion to adduce additional evidence has already been denied?” he asked.

The senator wondered if this meant that the court already had formed an opinion against him, “I hope it isn’t so, and I pray that it’s not.”

“From the get go, I hope that I will not totally lose trust in our justice system. The way things are turning out, it appears that it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain justice,” Revilla said.

Revilla was one of the three senators—the two others are Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile—who were in the first batch of lawmakers that the Ombudsman indicted for plunder and graft in June 2014 in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam alleged to have been masterminded by Napoles.

Estrada and Revilla have been detained for the past eight months at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame while Enrile has been in hospital detention for the same length of time. Napoles is detained at the PNP’s Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

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