Gov’t lawyers seek to secure ‘pork’ assets
MANILA, Philippines - Lawyers from the Office of the Ombudsman are asking the Sandiganbayan to issue a writ of preliminary attachment against the assets of detained Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. to ensure their recovery should it win the case against the lawmaker who is facing plunder charges for alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
In a motion filed before the anti-graft court’s First Division yesterday, prosecutors said a notice of garnishment covering cash and properties totaling P224.5 million would preserve the assets while the accused is on trial.
Ombudsman prosecutors said Revilla’s assets include multiple bank accounts, real properties, shares of stocks as well as vehicles.
A writ of preliminary attachment functions like a freeze order that would prevent an accused from disposing of or hiding his wealth, which the state seeks to recover for allegedly being ill-gotten.
Ombudsman prosecutors said Revilla’s assets include bank accounts identified by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), shares of stocks which he himself declared in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), and other properties that he admits owning even though he claims to have a net worth of only P168 million.
The prosecution said the filing of the motion is grounded on the fact that the accused himself admitted closing bank accounts or withdrawing his deposits to protect his family when the pork barrel fund scam controversy came out.
“It may be noted that the bank inquiry conducted by AMLC revealed that Sen. Revilla closed around 32 bank accounts,” ombudsman lawyers noted.
“And more importantly, Sen. Revilla himself publicly confirmed that he closed several of his bank accounts at the time when the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) scam was exposed by the media,” the prosecution added.
Ombudsman lawyers gave the Sandiganbayan a list enumerating Revilla’s alleged bank accounts and properties, even providing transfer certificate of title (TCT) numbers of lands supposedly owned by the accused and his wife, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado.
Revilla is on trial for plunder for allegedly receiving kickbacks or commissions totaling P224.5 million from alleged pork barrel fund scam operator Janet Lim-Napoles in exchange for PDAF allocations that went to bogus non-government organizations that implemented ghost projects.
90-day preventive suspension
Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drilon ordered yesterday the 90-day preventive suspension of Revilla and his staff, lawyer Richard Cambe, in connection with the plunder case pending before the Sandiganbayan.
The 90-day suspension orders against Revilla and Cambe will be in effect from Nov. 3 to Jan. 31, 2015.
Drilon issued the order after the Sandiganbayan upheld the anti-graft court’s resolution dated July 31, 2014 ordering Revilla and Cambe’s preventive suspension.
According to Drilon, the Office of the Senate President received the Oct. 22 resolution of the First Division last Friday. Revilla and Cambe were provided separate copies of the suspension, duly received by the office of Revilla.
“We are therefore left with no recourse but to implement the order of suspension under the July 31, 2014 Resolution consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in Santiago vs. Sandiganbayan (G.R. No. 128055, 18 April 2011),” Drilon said.
Copies of the order were also furnished to the offices of the Senate majority leader, acting minority leader and the Senate secretary.
Incidentally, the Sandiganbayan sent the orders related to the preventive suspension of Revilla and Cambe to the Office of the Senate President on the day The STAR reported that the Senate has put on hold the suspension since it has not received any formal directive from the anti-graft court.
Aside from Revilla, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada are also facing plunder charges in connection with the alleged misuse of the congressional pork barrel.
Enrile, Estrada and Revilla are now detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame.
Because of their suspension, the Senate leadership is also preventing the three senators from accessing their operational funds without clearance from the Office of the Senate Secretary. Each senator has about P2 million in operational funds every month.
Drilon earlier said suspended senators cannot make cash advances during the period of their suspension. – With Christina Mendez