Sandigan defers arraignment of Revilla, 6 others

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has reset to Feb. 9 the arraignment of former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and his co-accused for graft and malversation cases following pending motions filed by the defense.

Among these were motions to quash the case information or charge sheet separately filed by Revilla and former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan First District Engineering Office accountant Juanito Mendoza.

Revilla and the six former DPWH Bulacan officials were supposed to be arraigned yesterday morning before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division for the non-bailable offense of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents, in connection with an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

Revilla’s lawyer Isaiah Asuncion III said his client’s motion to quash was grounded on the Office of the Ombudsman’s supposed failure to allege the expressed conspiracy among the former senator and his co-accused.

Asuncion also said the factual allegations in the case information do not constitute the elements of malversation through falsification, pointing out that Revilla was not an accountable officer responsible for the public funds involved in the case.

A grant of a motion to quash the information is tantamount to the case’s dismissal but without prejudice to its refiling.

Revilla’s omnibus motion also asked the court to remand the case to the Office of the Ombudsman for a reinvestigation.

The former senator also has a pending motion to be transferred to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City on grounds of threats to security.

The Third Division gave the ombudsman’s prosecution panel until Jan. 28 to comment on the motions of Revilla and the other accused.

Named as Revilla’s co-accused in the case were former assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez, former construction section chief Jaypee Mendoza, former engineers Arjay Domasig and Emelita Juat, accountant Juanito Mendoza and cashier Christina Pineda.

Meanwhile, the court’s Fourth Division also deferred Revilla and his co-accused’s scheduled arraignment yesterday afternoon for their case of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, due to the pending motions, including the motions to quash and reinvestigation by the ombudsman.

Juat nonetheless opted to push through with her arraignment for the graft case, pleading “not guilty.”

As for Revilla and the five other accused, the Fourth Division reset their arraignment also on Feb. 9.

After the proceedings, Revilla, Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Domasig and Juanito Mendoza were transported back to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas where they were earlier ordered by the Third Division to be temporarily detained for their non-bailable case.

Juat and Pineda, meanwhile, were transported back to Camp Karingal Female Dormitory in Quezon City.

Later in the day, the justices of the Third Division inspected both detention facilities to personally check the condition of the accused.

Meanwhile, in an interview with reporters after the deferred arraignment, Revilla’s other lawyer, Reody Anthony Balisi, maintained that the filing of their motions was not meant to delay the proceedings but to assert their client’s right to due process.

Balisi said Revilla did not receive from the ombudsman a copy of the malversation through falsification complaint against him as well as the voluminous supporting documents attached to the complaint.

Furthermore, Balisi said, it was only on Thursday that their camp supposedly received the ombudsman’s resolution finding probable cause to indict Revilla and former DPWH Bulacan officials in court.

“It’s the right of the accused to invoke speedy trial but as far as we are concerned, we are exhausting all possibilities. Who knows, we might get a favorable ruling. We are just exhausting all remedies,” Balisi said.

Real culprits

Meanwhile, Sen. JV Ejercito called for the arrest of the real culprits in the flood control corruption scandal, as he questioned the qualifications of the state witnesses from the DPWH.

In a Zoom press briefing yesterday, Ejercito said he would have wanted the state witnesses to be the least guilty, as he questioned the inclusion into the Department of Justice (DOJ) witness protection program of former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo and dismissed DPWH Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara.

“I’m not a lawyer, but from what I know, those who are most guilty in the operation cannot be accepted as a state witness. I’m hoping that they would be more meticulous in their selection of state witnesses, and safe to make sure that those who will be admitted are not the most guilty here,” Ejercito said.

He said he respected the DOJ’s “discretion” in choosing the qualified state witnesses based on the evidence at hand and their willingness to cooperate, as he expressed relief the two other Bulacan district engineers Hernandez and Mendoza were rejected due to their inconsistencies.

“What I’m really after is the modus, in aid of legislation. We have to get to the bottom of this so we can put in safeguards and prevent it from happening again. Let us focus on the process in this scandal, how they went about it,” Ejercito said. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab