After being cleared of graft charges, Revilla to ‘move forward to serve the nation’

After the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court cleared him of 16 counts of graft in connection with the pork barrel scam, Senator Bong Revilla on Monday said he would move forward and continue serving the public.

"I faced everything head on. Sa kabila ng pagwasak sa aking pangalan at pagkatao, hinarap kong lahat ng buong-buo dahil alam kong hindi mababago ang katotohanang ako ay naging biktima lamang ng masamang pulitika," Revilla said on Facebook.

(I faced the charges against me because I know that the truth will not change that I am only a victim of bad politics.)

"The truth has come out. Now, I can move forward to serving our nation and our people even further, free of this nuisance," he added.

Revilla went on to claim that the accusations against him stemming from the P10 billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) had no basis.

"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," the senator said.

Revilla was accused of diverting part of his PDAF to fake non-government organizations linked to businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, who is also the supposed mastermind behind the scam.

A July 1 decision of the anti-graft court's Special First Division granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Revilla due to lack of evidence against him. But the court denied a similar motion filed by Napoles.

In 2018, the same anti-graft court also acquitted the senator of plunder raps over the scam. — DVM, GMA News