THE Sandiganbayan has cleared Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. of 16 counts of graft charges filed against him in connection with the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) also known as pork barrel scam.
In the 196-page decision written by Associate Justice Geraldine Econg, Sandiganbayan Special First Division granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Revilla due to insufficient evidence against him.
“The court hereby resolves to grant the demurrer to evidence of accused Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. in Criminal Case Nos. SB 14-CRM-0267 to 0282, and dismiss these cases against him on the ground of insufficiency of evidence against him,” the decision said.
“The bonds posted by accused Revilla are hereby ordered released, subject to the usual accounting and auditing procedures. The hold departure order issued against them are also set aside and declared functus officio,” the decision added.
However, the court denied the same motion filed by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
“The court hereby resolves to deny the demurrer to evidence of accused Janet Lim Napoles in Criminal Case Nos. SB 14-CRM-0267 to 0282 as the matters she raised therein are simply a rehash of the arguments she raised in her motion to supress evidence and the motion for reconsideration, which were both previously resolved by this court,” the anti-graft court said.
Meanwhile, the graft charges against Revilla’s former aide, Richard Cambe, were dismissed following his death in April.
In a statement posted on his Facebook, Revilla said the Sandiganbayan, “by granting him demurrer to evidence and dismissing all the charges against me, validates what we have known from the very beginning–that all the accusations against me have no basis and any leg to stand on.”
“After eight long years, nangibabaw nang tuluyan ang Iyong hustisya! . . I am not, and never have been involved in graft and corruption. This is the reason why I did not run; I did not hide; and did not evade the judicial system. I put my trust and my life in our Courts,” he added.
In 2018, the Sandiganbayan acquitted Revilla of plunder also in connection with the pork barrel scam.
But in 2019, the Office of the Ombusdman asked the Sandiganbayan Special First Division to issue a writ of execution to compel Revilla to settle his civil liability based on the anti-graft court’s December 7, 2018 decision in the lawmaker’s P224.5-million plunder case.