Revilla gets attention of SC en banc in petition vs. plunder complaint

The camp of Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. has now secured a larger audience from the Supreme Court after his petition contesting the plunder complaint against him has been transferred from an SC division to the 15-member high court en banc.

In an advisory, the SC Public Information Office also said the scheduled April 1 oral arguments on Revilla's petition have been reset to April 22, still at 2 p.m. in Baguio City where the magistrates will be holding their summer session from March 31 to April 25.

"The oral arguments in Revilla v. Ombudsman is reset to April 22, Tuesday, 2:00PM, still in Baguio but now before the SC en banc," the SC PIO said.

Revilla is among the three senators facing plunder in connection with the pork barrel scam. The others are Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.

Revilla's petition was elevated to the full court as requested by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, who said the petition is "intricately related" to the petition seeking to strike down the pork barrel system, which was granted by the high court en banc.

Leonen said if the en banc handles Revilla's case, "it presents an opportunity to further interpret said case to increase its import and significance in the workings of the Philippine government and society."

3 issues

In an earlier advisory, the high court required parties in the case to discuss three issues on the matter:
 

• whether or not respondent Office of the Ombudsman acted with grave abuse of discretion when it denied petitioner's motion to suspend preliminary investigation in OMB-C-C-13-0316 and OMC -C-C-13-0395 despite the existence of a prejudicial question;
• whether or not respondent Office of the Ombudsman gravely abused its discretion when it dismissed petitioner Revilla's plunder charge against Dennis Cunanan, Antonio Ortiz, Alan Javellana, Gondelina Amata, Salvador Salacup, Mylene Encarnacion, Nemesio Pablo, Evelyn De Leon, Jocelyn Piorato, John Raymond de Asis, Ronaldo John Lim and Benhur Luy, Merlina Sunas, Marina Sula, despite the presence of clear evidence against them, in violation of petitioner Revilla's right to equal protection;
• whether or not the issuance of a temporary restraining order is proper.

Revilla filed a motion with the Office of the Ombudsman last January 15 asking it to suspend the preliminary investigation on the plunder complaints filed against him by the National Bureau of Investigation and Levito Baligod, lawyer of the whistleblowers in the pork barrel scam.

The Ombudsman junked Revilla's request on January 28.

Whistleblowers

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said her office dismissed Revilla's plunder charge against whistleblowers Benhur Luy, Merlina Suñas and Marina Sula "since the three have been admitted to the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program."

The Ombudsman also dismissed Revilla's countercharge against fellow respondents in the alleged scam cases, namely Dennis Cunanan, Antonio Ortiz, Alan Javellana, Gondelina Amata, Salvador Salacup, Mylene Encarnacion, Nemesio Pablo, Evelyn De Leon, Jocelyn Piorato, John Raymund De Asis and Ronald John Lim.

It said the countercharge was junked "because it stems from similar, if not identical, factual allegations as those filed by the National Bureau of Investigation and Field Investigation Office against them who are, in any event, already impleaded."

Revilla's motion to suspend the Ombudsman's preliminary investigation on the pork barrel scam was also junked as investigators found "no prejudicial question exists to warrant the suspension...."

In his plea with the Ombudsman, the lawmaker asked that the ongoing proceedings be suspended, pending the resolution of a separate civil complaint he had filed with the Bacoor City Regional Trial Court in Cavite.

In his complaint, Revilla had asked the Cavite court to declare as null and void the documents submitted by the NBI and Baligod in the plunder complaint against him because his supposed signatures in them were forged. — KBK, GMA News