Bong Revilla disputes VIP treatment allegation

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. has disputed the prosecution's allegation that he is being accorded special treatment while in detention in connection with his alleged involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

In an opposition paper submitted to the Sandiganbayan First Division on Monday but was only made available to the media on Wednesday, Revilla said the allegation “lacks basis” as it was anchored on one instance only.

The prosecution panel said Revilla is being accorded special treatment by the officials of PNP Custodial Center when he was brought to the PNP General Hospital (PNPGH) on February 14, 2015, which was incidentally the birthday of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, a co-accused in the pork barrel scam case who was detained there at that time.

“In fine, the isolated instance that Senator Revilla was taken out of the PNP Custodial Center for his emergency medical check-up where he accidentally met Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, on its own, cannot and should not be taken as a justifiable reason for the transfer of detention of Senator Revilla,” the opposition paper read.

The opposition paper was submitted by Revilla's camp in reply to the motion filed by the prosecution last month asking the anti-graft court to consider the February 14 incident in deciding on its earlier plea to transfer Revilla and his former chief of staff, Richard Cambe, to an ordinary jail.

The prosecution alleged that Revilla was sneaked from his detention cell to attend the 91st birthday party of Enrile.

The First Division had earlier ruled that Revilla must not leave his place of detention unless in cases of medical necessity and emergency.

The prosecution argued that PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina himself admitted that there were irregularities when Revilla was brought to the specialty ward of the PNPGH on February 14.

In his report submitted to the First Division on March 27, Espina said that based on the probe conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), two custodial officers, namely, PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS) officer-on-duty Senior Inspector Celina Tapaoan, and HSS Custodial Security Unit (CSU) officer-in-charge Superintendent Eulogio Lovello Fabro, connived to facilitate the transfer of Revilla to the PNPGH.

The prosecution team thus pointed to the incident as confirmation that “Revilla is being accorded special privileges while in detention at the PNP Custodial Barracks.”

Because of this, the prosecution argued that the court must reconsider Revilla's and Cambe's transfer to a Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, which is under the control and supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Revilla, however, disputed the CIDG's findings, insisting that his health condition on February 14 could be considered as a case of medical emergency as he was suffering from hypertension.

“It bears to note that based on the sworn statements and the PNP CIDG report, it remains undisputed that Senator Revilla actually underwent a medical check-up and was brought to the specialty ward for security reasons... Surely, attending to a detention prisoner's medical condition does not amount to a 'special privilege' or 'special treatment' in his favor,” Revilla's opposition paper read.

Revilla's camp said PNPGH attending physician Chief Inspector Raymond Santos, in his sworn statement, admitted that he diagnosed the senator to be suffering from stage one of hypertension during that day.

“Revilla indeed suffered a serious medical condition on 14 February 2015, which necessitated his rushing to the hospital for immediate examination,” the opposition paper said.

Revilla also slammed the CIDG for recommending the filing of criminal and administrative charges against Fabro and Tapaoan for the incident.

“To conclude, as what the PNP CIDG did, that PSupt Fabro and PSInsp Tapaoan 'connived' in allowing Senator Revilla to visit Senator Enrile is too presumptuous, malicious at most, when what only appears to be disputed is simply the internal protocol to contact the PNP General Hospital prior to the emergency check-up,” Revilla's opposition paper said.

“It will be the height of injustice to find proper the transfer of Senator Revilla's detention on the basis of a baseless imputation of ill-will and bad faith between the officers of the PNP Custodial Center,” it added.

The First Division had earlier dismissed the original motion of the prosecution for Revilla and Cambe's transfer to ordinary jail, but the prosecution filed a motion for reconsideration in September last year. The court has yet to rule on the prosecution's motion. —KBK, GMA News