Agimat goes to jail, again

Since Tuesday, Jan. 20, former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has been spending his days and nights at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas, near east Metro Manila’s legendary dumpsite. It is a place where sh*t is collected, processed and converted into something clean and usable for society. So the metaphor between jail and dumpsite is obvious. The sprawling jail complex is good for 5,000 inmates with 1,500 vacancies for most in-demand customers.

The Payatas jail is supposed to be brand new, modern, more humane and at par with global standards. Bong Revilla’s call measures 47 square meters, has five bunk beds good for ten people, a lavatory, a toilet bowl and shower plumbing. It has no privacy. Steel bars are aplenty.

So if Bong is your dorm mate, you might wonder how “Senator Agimat,” 59, looks, behaves and lives, up close and personal, so close you will be tempted to ask him, “How is your agimat?”

At 10:15 Tuesday (Jan. 20) morning, the Sandiganbayan anti-graft ordered the detention of Bong Revilla at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas following his surrender on Monday night. The matinee idol and Agimat series action star appeared before the anti-graft court’s Third Division Tuesday for booking and processing of his commitment orders.

“The accused, Ramon Revilla Jr., who is charged with malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents, shall be held at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-National Capital Region, Quezon City Jail, male dormitory, Payatas Road, Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City,” the court said, adding, “The accused shall not be moved, removed, transferred or otherwise released unless ordered by the Court.”

Bong Revilla posted P90,000 bail before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division for his graft case stemming from a P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, but will remain in jail as his malversation case is non-bailable.

Under a 1950s law, if the accused is charged with malversation of at least P8.8 million, it shall be non-bailable. And the sentence, if guilty, is life imprisonment. If Bong Revilla is found guilty, he will spend his days, nights, weeks, months and maybe forever, behind bars. Unlike in the movies, where there is no forever, a jail term can be forever.

Bong is the first of the high-profile politicians to be hauled to jail amid the government’s massive flood control anti-corruption crackdown. The Department of Justice has finalized 14 cases of malversation. DOJ is to file malversation and plunder cases against two sitting senators within this month and February.

Said a DOJ spokesman on Tuesday, Jan. 20: “This afternoon at 2 p.m., a preliminary investigation was conducted for six cases related to the flood control anomalies. Isa pong respondents sa mga kaso na yun si Senator Joel Villanueva. Senator Joel Villanueva filed a motion for extension, asking and requesting the panel of prosecutors to be given until Jan. 26 to file his counter affidavit, which the panel of prosecutors granted, and so hanggang Jan. 26 po meron siyang pagkakataon na magsampa ng kaniyang kontra-salaysay.

“It’s also important for the DOJ to clarify that Senator Joel Villanueva is a respondent in not just one but three in total malversation cases before the DOJ. Just for everyone’s knowledge, just a recap, review po tayo. The pending flood control anomaly cases here are 14 in total.

“The initial batch, the first batch of cases na malversation among other charges, is related to SYMS Construction Trading. And the projects are all located in the Bulacan 1st District. Yun po yung initially first five cases.

“Of the five, two have been referred to the ombudsman (and) which were filed with the Sandiganbayan. Three are currently pending resolution, which the Prosecutor General has promised will be released within the week. So five – two with the Sandiganbayan, three resolutions to be released within a week.

“The second batch of cases, six in all, are all related to either of two contractors, Wawao Construction and TopNotch Catalyst Builders. The six are pending with the DOJ. And in various different timelines.

“So kahit lahat po sila related to Wawao, TopNotch, it doesn’t necessarily mean na sabay-sabay silang umuusbong o gumagalaw. Lahat po yan gumagalaw, but in different stages. Kunwari yung mga iba pong respondents nag-file ng counter affidavit. Yung iba through resolution. Yung iba investigation pa. So we cannot determine or say kailan po matatapos yung anim na yun. Maliban po sa anim na yun.

“The last batch is the three plunder cases. The three involve, again, three high-profile individuals – former Ako Bicol representative Zaldy Co, senator Bong Revilla and then we have Senator Jinggoy Estrada.

“In the same case where I corresponded with Senator Jinggoy Estrada, we also have former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan (who) has returned to the Philippines to face the charges. That’s the status of our 14 cases.”

The arraignment and pretrial for Revilla and other Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials implicated in the P92-million Pandi, Bulacan ghost flood control project are scheduled for Jan. 23 at 8:30 a.m. The court will also hear the motion on his transfer to the Camp Crame jail, which has better amenities, on the same date.

Only son Rep. Jolo Revilla expressed sadness over his father’s detention but said he respects the court’s decision. In a Facebook post, Jolo said his father’s voluntary surrender was meant to confront the accusations directly and affirm his faith in the legal system. He emphasized that the proper place to resolve the case is inside the courtroom, where facts matter, and the law prevails.

Jolo Revilla also said this is a difficult moment for their family, even while stressing the importance of accountability and the integrity of due process.

This is the second time in 12 years Bong Revilla is jailed for graft.

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