Court defers action on Bong Revilla furlough plea

Senator Bong Revilla. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines–Sen. Bong Revilla on Monday asked the Sandiganbayan First Division for a three-hour furlough to allow him to see his son, Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla, who is confined in a Muntinlupa hospital after shooting himself in the chest on Saturday.

In a motion filed in the antigraft court, Revilla’s lawyers asked that the senator, who is detained in Camp Crame on plunder charges, be allowed to visit his son “for at least three hours” at Asian Hospital and Medical Center “as soon as possible” so he could provide him with much-needed support “in this life-threatening situation.”

The court, however, deferred action on the senator’s motion pending submission of Jolo’s medical abstract and a comment from the government prosecutors.

Obligation

The senator said it was “his obligation to visit his son to ensure that he is safe and in stable medical condition…”

The petition was received by the antigraft court at 9:05 a.m.

According to lawyer Raymond Fortun, spokesman of the Revillas, Jolo was in stable condition but had a fever at 5 a.m. yesterday.

Fortun said this was “indicative of some infection” in the body of the younger Revilla, who underwent a two-and-a half-hour “minor surgery” on Sunday afternoon.

Fortun said the bullet, which pierced Jolo’s upper chest, “created internal injuries to muscles, which resulted in bleeding.”

“The family is still hoping to transfer him [from the intensive care unit] to a regular room this afternoon. [The] doctor is monitoring the output of blood, which looks like it’s decreasing,” Fortun said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, the senator’s close friend and fellow detained lawmaker, on Monday said Revilla was puzzled how his son could sustain a self-inflicted bullet wound.

A source earlier told the Inquirer that Jolo had tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest on Saturday inside the family’s Ayala Alabang home in Muntinlupa.

Speaking with reporters after his bail hearing at the Sandiganbayan, Estrada said the vice governor’s father “is very, very worried about his son.”

“I feel for him. It’s painful that he cannot be with his family after what happened because he still has to ask permission [from the court],” Estrada said.

The investigation into the incident by a police team is still in progress, according to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) head Director Carmelo Valmoria.

The officer could not give a timeline within which the probe, headed by Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Henry Rañola, will be completed, but said this would not be more than a month.

Accident?

According to the official statement of the Revilla family, Jolo accidentally shot himself while cleaning his Glock .40-cal. pistol, a government-issued gun. But the police on Sunday initiated a probe to determine what exactly happened and whether a third party was involved.

Records from the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) showed that the vice governor, a former actor, has more than one gun licensed with the PNP.

FEO head Chief Supt. Virgilio Moro Lazo said his office had yet to receive a formal request for firearm verification from the task group created by the NCRPO to investigate the incident.

Lazo did not disclose how many licensed guns Jolo had and which of these was involved in the incident.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said the PNP was waiting for the NCRPO to finish its investigation into the incident.

Cerbo said a gun owner must first make sure his pistol no longer has loaded bullets before it is dismantled and cleaned to avoid accidents.

According to the vice governor’s employees, they did not notice anything unusual about the young official in the week before the incident happened.

A female staffer, who requested anonymity, said Revilla had presided over the regular Monday session of the provincial board last week.–With a report from Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon