Sandiganbayan junks bail petitions of Bong Revilla, Napoles, Cambe

By PATRICIA DENISE CHIU, GMA News

Published December 2, 2014 9:14am

(Updated 1:26 p.m.) The Sandiganbayan First Division has junked the bids of Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla, his staff Richard Cambe and trader Janet Lim-Napoles for temporary freedom in connection with the alleged multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

In a 71-page decision, the anti-graft court junked the bail petitions of Revilla and his two co-accused.

"The prosecution has duly established that there exists strong evidence that accused Revilla, Cambe and Napoles, in conspiracy with one another, committed the capital offense of plunder and thus are not entitled to the constitutional right to bail," the decision penned by Justice Efren Dela Cruz said.

Kahilingan nina Sen. Revilla Jr, Atty. Cambe at Napoles na makagpiyansa, ibinasura ng Sandiganbayan | via @allangatus pic.twitter.com/F0jjh8BtVO

— GMA News (@gmanews) December 2, 2014

However, in the same decision, the court said that the denial of bail should not be taken to mean that those accused in the scam will be found guilty of the offense.

"The court cautions that such conclusion [to deny bail] shall not be regarded as a prejudgment on the merits of the case that are to be determined only after a full blown trial," the decision read.

Revilla and Cambe are both detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame while Napoles, the alleged brains in the pork barrel scam, is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

Revilla is facing one count of plunder and 16 counts of graft before the Sandiganbayan.

He and his co-accused allegedly received P224.5 million in kickbacks from 2006 to 2010 for funding the ghost projects of Napoles NGOs.

Cambe, as Revilla's chief political officer, is said to have prepared endorsement letters and memoranda of agreement with Napoles NGOs and implementing agencies. He also crafted disbursement reports and at times, according to the indictment, even allowed Napoles’ employees to prepare the documents and sign for him. Cambe faces one count of plunder and 16 counts of graft.

Napoles, meanwhile, faces three counts of plunder and 42 counts of graft.

She has been accused of taking advantage of her connections in government to orchestrate the pork barrel scam, said to be "the mother of all scams." Under the scam, allocations from lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund (also known as pork barrel fund) were allegedly diverted to fake NGOs.

Revilla disappointed

Meanwhile, Revilla expressed disappointment over the outcome of his bail petition.

"Of course we're very disappointed. It was not the outcome we were expecting especially when we consider the facts and the evidence," Revilla said in a text message.

However the detained senator said he respects the court's decision. He also said he still expects to be exonerated of charges.

"Ganunpaman, wala naman tayong magagawa kundi igalang ang pananaw ng hukuman. Hindi pa tapos ang Laban. This is a setback but by no means determinative of our resolve to clear my name. Kung hindi pa ito ang panahon para mangibabaw ang katotohanan, darating din ang tamang panahon," Revilla said.

Later in the day, Revilla's camp said they would be appealing the Sandiganbayan decision.

In an interview with GMA News TV's “Balitanghali,” lawyer Raymond Fortun, Revilla's counsel, said they have yet to receive a copy of the decision but they will be filing within 15 days a motion for reconsideration to further explain to the anti-graft court's justices their stand.

“Definitely magpa-file ng motion for reconsideration yung mga lawyers dahil naniniwala yung mga lawyers at si Sen. Bong na hindi talaga napatunayan nang maigi ng prosecution yung standard na kinakailangan para ma-deny yung petition for bail,” he said. — RSJ/KG, GMA News

Tags: bantaykaban, ramonbongrevillajr, richardcambe, janetlimnapoles