MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has junked the bid of detained former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. to stop the Sandiganbayan from freezing his assets for the P224.5-million plunder case stemming from the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
In a session yesterday, the SC decided to dismiss for lack of merit Revilla’s petition seeking reversal of the February 2015 ruling of the Sandiganbayan First Division that issued a writ of preliminary attachment over bank assets and properties under his name and his wife, Bacoor City, Cavite Mayor Lani Mercado.
The SC instead affirmed the writ issued by the anti-graft court, saying it was “not the penalty of forfeiture envisioned by law, contrary to Revilla’s argument and that it is an ancillary remedy that can be availed of during the pendency of a criminal case of plunder without waiting for the final resolution of the bail petition before it can be issued.“
The Sandiganbayan issued the writ upon a motion by the prosecution in October 2014 which sought the garnishment of Revilla’s assets, properties and bank accounts, saying there is a need to preserve the alleged ill-gotten wealth to ensure payments and recovery of such in favor of the state in the event that the accused is found guilty of plunder.
The assets covered by the writ includes 44 bank accounts except those that were already closed by the senator when the scam was made public; 15 motor vehicles; 28 real estate properties; five shares in separate stocks valued at P1.14 million and a total of 12 shares in exclusive clubs and private companies.
Revilla still has a pending petition before the SC seeking the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction to stop the anti-graft court from proceeding with the plunder case against him.
Also yesterday, the SC denied the petitions of Revilla’s chief of staff Richard Cambe and alleged PDAF scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles seeking to post bail grant.
Just like Revilla’s petition, the SC held that the bail petitions lacked merit as it upheld the joint resolution of the Sandiganbayan in December 2014 denying their bail applications.
Revilla also filed a similar petition before the SC, but later on withdrew his petition so he is not covered by this latest ruling.
On the other hand, the SC rejected the bid of the Office of the Ombudsman to transfer Revilla, Cambe and Napoles to a city jail. Revilla and Cambe are currently detained in the Philippine National Police custodial center in Quezon City while Napoles is in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
The SC agreed with the Sandiganbayan that there was no justifiable ground for the transfer.