Ombudsman junks motion to suspend ‘pork’ case vs Revilla

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has rejected Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.’s appeal to stop the investigation on his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

In the appeal, Revilla cited his filing of a civil case against his accusers, including whistle-blower Benhur Luy.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales confirmed she denied the lawmaker’s motion for lack of merit.

In a 13-page order dated Jan. 28, Morales approved the findings of the special panel of investigators that said no prejudicial question exists to warrant the suspension of preliminary investigation.

Aside from Revilla’s motion, the anti-graft court denied respondent Richard Cambe’s similar prayer to suspend investigation contained in his counter-affidavit dated Jan. 20. Cambe is Revilla’s chief of staff.

Revilla’s camp said they would appeal the Ombudsman decision.

Joel Bodegon, the senator’s lawyer, said they would file a motion for reconsideration.

“We shall try to persuade her that it is otherwise,” Bodegon said, noting that the civil and the criminal cases filed with the Ombudsman involved the same sets of facts and circumstances, parties, documents and records, and issues.

The Ombudsman said the civil case that Revilla filed against Luy and other individuals before a Cavite court last year has no bearing in the outcome of the criminal cases filed with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Morales and her investigators said the issues in the criminal and civil cases were neither similar nor related, noting that forgery or falsification, which is the gist of the civil case, is not a necessary element of the mentioned crimes.

She said the documents on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) probe are not the sole or exclusive determinant of a probable cause for plunder, malversation, or violation of the anti-graft law.

It said there appeared to be other pieces of evidence such as the sworn statements of other witnesses, business records of companies controlled by alleged scam brains Janet Lim Napoles, and investigators’ on-site verification reports.

The Ombudsman said the decision to junk Revilla and Cambe’s appeal considered the civil suit as a ploy to delay criminal proceedings.

It said the senator knew about the PDAF documents and the issue on the authenticity of his signature on the documents as early as 2011 when he confirmed with the Commission on Audit that the signatures appearing in the PDAF documents were his and Cambe’s.

In the same order, Morales dismissed Revilla’s charges for plunder against Luy, Merlina Suñas and Marina Sula, as the three have already been admitted to the Witness Protection Program.

The counter charge against Petronilla Balmaceda was referred for further investigation.

Revilla’s case against his fellow respondents Dennis Cunanan, Antonio Ortiz, Alan Javellana, Gondelina Amata, Salvador Salacup, Mylene Encarnacion, Nemesio Pablo, Evelyn de Leon, Jocelyn Piorato, John Raymund de Asis and Ronald John Lim was dismissed as it stems from similar, if not identical, factual allegations as those filed by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Field Investigation Office against them who were already impleaded.

Morales said any baseless attempt to suspend or delay the preliminary investigation on the PDAF cases would not be tolerated, as the cases were imbued with paramount public interest. – With Christina Mendez