Before arrest warrant could be issued: Bong yields to Sandigan

MANILA, Philippines — With his family, a handful of supporters, and his own video and camera crew in tow, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. turned himself in to the Sandiganbayan yesterday morning shortly after the warrant for his arrest for plunder got the last of the three signatures it needed.

“This is voluntary submission, surrender is when there is a warrant of arrest,” Revilla’s lead defense counsel Joel Bodegon told reporters as the senator was being booked for the non-bailable offense of plunder for allegedly embezzling his Priority Development Assistance Fund, in cahoots with alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles. He also filed a motion for bail arguing that the evidence of guilt against the senator “is not strong.”

The arrest warrant, drafted Thursday afternoon, had to wait for the signature of Sandiganbayan First Division chairman Efren dela Cruz before it could be issued. De la Cruz signed the document only yesterday. Only Associate Justices Only Associate Justices Rafael Lagos and Napoleon Inoturan signed the arrest warrant on Thursday.

“There is really no need for the warrant of arrest because from the beginning, he manifested his willingness to submit himself to the jurisdiction of the court,” Bodegon said.

Director Benjamin Magalong, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, led the police in escorting and receiving Revilla for booking procedures, which involved the taking of his mug shot and fingerprint samples at the Security and Sheriffs and Services Office of the Sandiganbayan. With the senator were his wife Rep. Lani Mercado and son Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla.

After more than an hour, he was escorted out of the anti-graft court’s premises and brought to Camp Crame in compliance with a commitment order issued by the First Division.

Men in white shirts printed with the words “Karangalan kong maging Indio (It’s an honor to be an Indio)” took videos and photos of the senator as he was being booked. The printed message was an apparent reference to Revilla’s teleserye “Indio” which aired on GMA-7 a few years ago.

He is scheduled to return to the Sandiganbayan on June 26 at 8:30 a.m. for arraignment proceedings.

After he had left, a co-accused and former chief of staff Richard Cambe arrived and was subjected to the same procedures.

Revilla is being accused of pocketing P242 million in kickbacks and commissions from PDAF-funded ghost projects. Also charged with plunder in connection with the pork barrel scam were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada – his colleagues in the opposition. The two are also facing arrest.

At the PNP multi-purpose hall at Camp Crame, Revilla again underwent booking procedures. Only members of his family and some friends from showbiz were allowed inside the hall. They were made to surrender their gadgets like cellphones at the lobby of the multipurpose hall.

Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office  director, said Revilla’s blood pressure was 140/90during medical examination.

Revilla was assigned at detention cell no. 1, being the first of the three senators to be ordered arrested. Revilla is the 73rd inmate in the Custodial Center.

Magalong said the senator confided to him he is worried about his family. Earlier, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas reiterated that thesenator would be “treated with respect.”

Roxas said the Custodial Center would be temporary detention for the senators and the others accused in the plunder case as the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is constructing another detention facility in Bicutan that was “supposedly for the accused in the Zamboanga City siege plus Maguindanao.”

Petition for bail

In filing a motion for bail, Bodegon said the evidence and documents being used against Revilla – as the whistleblowers themselves had reportedly admitted – contained forged signatures and did not show the participation of the senator in any anomaly.

He said the testimonies of the whistleblowers led by Benhur Luy were also “bereft of personal knowledge” and should be considered or declared as hearsay.

His motion for bail also carried a request that the senator be detained at Camp Crame.

“The evidence against him is weak. Actually, there is no case against him. So we want the prosecution to show the court that they really have strong evidence because there is none,” Bodegon said.

“He did not receive any kickbacks, even a cent. He did not get anything from that scam. The availment of his fund under the PDAF was all legal,” he pointed out.

Other respondents in the pork barrel fund scam – including Napoles’ children – charged with the lesser offense of graft also showed up one after another at the Sandiganbayan to post bail. They were former Technology Resource Center director general Dennis Cunanan, Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, and National Development Livelihood Corp. head Chita Jalandoni.

Just before office hours closed at the Sandiganbayan, Napoles’ children Jo Christine and James Christopher each posted P450,000 bond through Alpha Insurance and Surety Company.

JLN employees Nitz Cabilao, Fernando Ramirez, Jesus Castillo, Dorilyn Agbay Fabian, and Renato Ornopia also posted bail bonds ranging from P60,000 to P450,000. — Philippine Star News Service