Bong Revilla hits back at Leila De Lima

MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. cried foul over detained Sen. Leila de Lima’s statement that her detention was different from the cases of three senators who were jailed in connection with the pork barrel corruption scandal.

In a statement yesterday, Revilla cited his acquittal from the charges filed against him in December last year while De Lima is still undergoing trial on drug charges.

“If we have any difference, it’s that the court proved that I was not guilty and should be released, while a court ordered her detained as accusations against her might be true,” he said, referring to De Lima.

Revilla also blamed De Lima for the suffering he experienced while in detention for the graft charge in relation to his alleged acceptance of over P200 million in kickbacks from his pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) that was allegedly channeled to bogus non-government organizations created by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan acquitted Revilla in a close vote, saying that he did not receive any kickback.

Revilla described De Lima, who started probing graft accusations against him and former senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile in relation to the pork barrel scam, as a “drug lord being protected by critics of the Duterte administration.”

Revilla, Estrada and Enrile are currently running for senator. Estrada and Enrile are out on bail pending the graft charges in connection with the pork barrel scam. 

De Lima previously criticized Senate President Vicente Sotto III and asked him to “stop comparing my situation with that of the three PDAF senators,” referring to Revilla, Estrada and Enrile.