Bong Revilla plunder trial set

MANILA, Philippines - The plunder trial of former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. in connection with the pork barrel fund scam will finally start on Jan. 12 next year.

Hearings, the Sandiganbayan’s First Division said, will be held every Thursday.

The anti-graft scheduled the start of the trial proper after the Office of the Ombudsman prosecutors and defense lawyers finished the pre-marking of evidence and completed pre-trial procedures.

Revilla, who surrendered in June 2014, remains detained at the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame along with fellow former senator Jinggoy Estrada.

He is accused of misusing his priority development assistance fund allocations from 2007 to 2009 and receiving P224.5 million in alleged kickbacks or commissions from questionable non-government organizations controlled by alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

Revilla, Estrada, and former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile were the first lawmakers to be indicted in June 2014 for alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.

Revilla’s and Estrada’s motions for bail have been denied while Enrile’s request for temporary liberty while undergoing trial was granted by the Supreme Court.