Sandiganbayan sends Bong Revilla to Quezon City jail

MANILA, Philippines, January 21 ------ The Sandiganbayan Third Division has ordered the temporary detention of former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. at the Quezon City Jail male dorm in connection with the malversation case against him over a P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

The anti-graft court had issued an arrest warrant and a hold departure order against Revilla and six others, prompting the former politician to surrender on Monday to the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) at Camp Crame in Quezon City. Revilla was brought to the Sandiganbayan yesterday for the return of warrant and the issuance of commitment order, which will state where he will be detained.

According to the CIDG, Revilla was fully cooperative from the time he reported to authorities until he was brought to the Sandiganbayan. In deciding Revilla’s temporary detention, Sandiganbayan Special Third Division chairman Karl Miranda cited a letter from PNP acting chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. asking the court to refrain from further ordering the detention of persons at the PNP custodial center in Camp Crame.

According to the letter, the custodial facility currently houses suspected terrorists, suspects likely to escape and suspects charged with heinous crimes, making the detention of a high-risk suspect like. Revilla “burdensome on the part of PNP because of the financial and manpower requirements it entails.”

The letter also noted that the custodial center is only a temporary lockout facility, not a long-term facility that can accommodate detainees of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Revilla was transported to the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas yesterday afternoon, where he will stay temporarily pending his camp’s motion to have him detained at the custodial center, which the Sandiganbayan will hear during the arraignment and pre-trial on Jan. 23.

The court also said it wants to hear the prosecution’s side on Revilla’s custody and will decide on the motion during the Friday hearing. According to the charge sheet filed by ombudsman prosecutors, Revilla, in collusion with the Department Of Public Works And Highways (DPWH) engineers, took a cut worth P76.9 million from the contractor of a P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan. This is his second time facing a non-bailable corruption charge.

No special treatment

Following Revilla’s surrender, the Department of the Interior and Local Government assured the public that the former senator will be treated like any other detainee while facing trial for his malversation case. “There will be no special treatment. If you go there now, there isn’t even an air-conditioning system,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in Filipino at a news briefing in Camp Crame. “We’ve been friends for a long time, but duty calls… when the Sandiganbayan said he must be arrested, the best thing I could do was advise him to surrender peacefully,” he said.

Revilla will join a population of over 3,600 detainees at the New Quezon City Jail, where he will stay in a cell designed for 10 inmates. Remulla assured the former senator’s camp that security measures are in place to protect the former senator from co-detainee and gang-related threats. “We will take all necessary precautions to ensure his safety during the trial process,” he said. As part of standard operating procedure, Revilla is on a seven-day quarantine before joining the jail’s general population.

Bail for graft case

In a separate graft case in the flood control project, Revilla posted a P90,000 bail before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division. However, he will still not be allowed to go home because of the non-bailable malversation case he is facing. Revilla will have to file a separate petition for bail before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, and the court should rule in his favor before he can secure temporary liberty.

The former senator was accompanied by his wife, Cavite 2nd District Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla, his sons Agimat party-list Rep. Brian and Cavite 1st District Rep. Jolo. Reacting to his father’s surrender, Jolo said the former senator’s voluntary submission to authorities shows he is willing to face the new charges and respects the rule of law. “[It] was a deliberate step to confront the accusations head-on and to affirm his faith in our legal institutions… He believes that the proper place to resolve these issues is inside the courtroom, where facts matter and the law speaks louder than speculation,” he said. “In this light, we respectfully call for fairness – fair treatment under the law, fair judgment based on evidence and fairness in public discourse that refrains from trial by publicity. I ask the public [and the] media to allow the justice system to work – without pressure, noise or premature conclusions,” he added.

President Marcos also expressed his sentiments over the arrest of one of the senatorial bets of his administration’s coalition during last year’s midterm polls. “I asked the President a while ago during our meeting. I asked him how he felt. He said he was sad because he (Revilla) was with him at the Alyansa (para sa Bagong Pilipinas) and senator Revilla is his friend,” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters yesterday at Malacañang. “Despite that, the process will prevail. We have to go through this because there is a process. Still, he said he was saddened by the development,” she added.

In a separate development, Christina Mae del Rosario Pineda, one of Revilla’s co-accused in the Bulacan flood control corruption case, was arrested early Tuesday in Benguet. The PNP-CIDG said Pineda, 38, a cashier at the DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office, was apprehended around 12:40 a.m. along Halsema Highway in Bangao, Buguias. Pineda’s arrest followed the issuance of a warrant by the Sandiganbayan Third Division on Monday. She was visiting the province at the time and was later transported to Region 3 at about 5 a.m. yesterday. Pineda is facing malversation charges with Revilla and five others over alleged irregularities in a flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan. The court also issued hold departure orders against her.

Source: philstar.com