‘Galit ang tao sa magnanakaw,’ Hilbay says after Revilla accused ‘yellows’ of funding campaign to bully him

MANILA, Philippines — Former solicitor general and opposition senatorial candidate Florin Hilbay on Sunday criticized his rival, former Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., anew after the latter alleged that there is a widespread campaign funded to bully him.

“Taong may konsensiya ang kailangan sa Senado, hindi fiction writers (The Senate needs a candidate with a conscience, not fiction writers),” Hilbay said him in a statement.

“Hindi siya ang biktima rito, kundi ang bayan. Malinaw na may ninakaw na pondo sa kaban ng bayan, may pinapabalik na pera ang Korte, at hindi pa naibabalik ang ni isang sentimo sa mga mahihirap na Pilipino (He’s not the victim here but the nation. It’s clear that he stole public funds, the court wants him to return these funds and not a single cent has been returned to poor Filipinos yet),” he added.

Hilbay added that Revilla was wrong for concluding that all those who hate him are “yellows.”

“Galit ang mga tao sa magnanakaw (The public is mad at liars), period,” he said.

Hilbay made the comment after Revilla issued a statement alleging that “yellows” are spending P50 million to attack him on social media.

'It's clear who can afford widespread campaign'

The political color yellow was previously associated with the opposition Liberal Party.

The former solicitor general appealed to Revilla to heighten the level of discourse and stop blaming the attacks to politicking whenever their anomalies are discovered.

“Between him and his so-called "dilawans," (yellows) malinaw naman kung sino ang may kakayahan na gumastos para sa isang malawakang PR cleansing ngayong eleksyon (It is clear who has the capacity to pay for a wide PR cleansing this elections),” Hilbay said.

“Sino ba ang mayroon nang mga tarps all over the country on the day na nakalabas ng kulungan? Sino ba ang nagpapamudmod ng sobre sa mga events kahit di naman siya bahagi ng LGU (Who has tarps all over the country on the day he got out of detention? Who gives envelopes in events where he is not even part of the local government unit)?” he asked.

Prior to Revilla’s allegation, Hilbay late January hit his senatorial rival for not paying the civil liability on his dismissed case. Hilbay said he is one with the Office of the Ombudsman in insisting that Revilla return the liability which he said came from “stolen public funds.”

For this, Hilbay called Revilla “thick-faced.”

READ: 'Ibang klaseng kakapalan': Hilbay urges Bong Revilla to return 'stolen public funds'

'Order to return civil liability fake news'

On Sunday, however, Revilla shrugged off calls for him to return the supposed civil liability saying these are “fake news.”

Revilla maintained that the Sandigan itself cleared him from the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam case. The case implicated him, his staff and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

“Hindi totoo na may pinapasauli sa akin ang korte. Fake news yan at pambubully (It’s not true that the court wants me to return money. That’s fake news and bullying),” Revilla was quoted as saying.

Korte na mismo ang nagsabing walang napunta sa akin — wala akong natanggap kahit singko —– ano ang ipapasauli nila sa ‘kin? To save face, kailangan nilang panindigan ang kanilang kalokohan (The court itself said I did not receive anything — I did not receive even a centavo — what do they want me to return? To save face, they need to stand by their nonsense),” he added.

Last December, Sandiganbayan acquitted Revilla in the multimillion plunder case saying prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the former lawmaker “received, directly or indirectly the rebates, commission and kickbacks from his [PDAF].”

The ombudsman prosecutors claimed that Revilla, through his aide Richard Cambe, received a total of P224.5 million in bribe from Napoles in exchange for the allocation of his PDAF to bogus non-government organizations.

The findings elicited questions on whether Revilla should pay for damages or only his co-accused Cambe and Napoles would be held liable.

Revilla was released from his four-year detention last December after the historic ruling of the anti-graft court.