In July 2013, the Inquirer published a five-part special report on allegations that businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles channeled some P10 billion in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) into ghost projects in over 10 years.
Almost a year later, Napoles, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, and other officials of public and private companies were slapped with plunder cases and multiple counts of graft for their roles in the alleged irregular disbursements of some P1.14 billion in pork barrel allotments from 2004 to 2010.
Revilla was accused of pocketing P224.5 million of his PDAF allotments through Napoles’ bogus foundations.
On June 19, 2014, the First Division of Sandiganbayan ordered the issuance of arrest warrants against Revilla and his coaccused.
The following day, Revilla turned himself in at the Sandiganbayan. Revilla traveled to Manila in a 10-vehicle convoy with family members and fans from his home in Bacoor town, Cavite province, where he had been gathering his supporters for televised denials of taking any part in the pork barrel scam.
He was then transferred to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame in Quezon City, where he is detained.
On Dec. 2, 2014, the Sandiganbayan threw out his bail petition.
In thumbing down Revilla’s plea for his temporary freedom, the antigraft court said it was “persuaded that the prosecution has presented compelling evidence that accused Revilla amassed, accumulated or acquired ill-gotten wealth.”
—INQUIRER RESEARCH
Source: Inquirer Archives