Bong son shot, wounded

MANILA, Philippines – A son of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. was in critical condition yesterday from what a family friend described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

But the family's lawyer said the shooting was accidental. Cavite Vice Gov. Jose Lorenzo Bautista III, who is known as Ramon Revilla III in politics and Jolo Revilla in show business, was cleaning a .40 caliber Glock pistol when the gun went off, said lawyer Raymond Fortun.

Revilla was rushed to the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa.

“He sustained a gunshot that went through his upper right chest,” Cavite Gov. Juanito Victor Remulla said. “He’s alive.”

Bong Revilla’s talent manager Lolit Solis, a close family friend, said Jolo, the third of seven children, “idolized” his father. Jolo was the most affected by the senator’s detention without bail for plunder, Solis told The STAR.

She said that among the children, Jolo was the closest to his father. Normally an ebullient person, Jolo became depressed upon his father’s arrest last year, Solis said. The family’s assets have also been frozen by the courts.

“He often wept during visits to his father,” Solis told The STAR. “Bong could accept his fate, but he didn’t realize that someone else in the family was suffering a lot.”

The depression apparently deepened, Solis said, following recent news that the senator might be transferred from a special detention facility at Camp Crame to a regular jail at Camp Bagong Diwa.

Recently, Revilla’s custodians were sacked amid reports that he had attended the Feb. 14 birthday party of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile in the hospital room at the Philippine National Police General Hospital where the latter is being held without bail also for plunder.

Solis said Jolo’s girlfriend, actress Jodi Sta. Maria of the popular television series “Be Careful with My Heart” was the first to arrive at the Asian Hospital yesterday.

Also keeping watch at the hospital were Jolo’s mother, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado; his son Gabriel by Grace Adriano, daughter of actress Rosanna Roces, and other relatives.

Senator Revilla is expected to seek a pass to be with his son. – With Wilma Yamzon