Bong Revilla attends second day of plunder trial

Former senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. on Thursday attended the second day of his plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan in connection with the alleged channeling of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocation to non-existent NGOs.

Revilla was confined last week at St. Luke's Medical Center in Taguig City due to hypertension and other illnesses forcing him to skip the first day of proceedings at the anti-graft court's First Division. 

Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla accompanied her husband on the second day of trial.

Revilla is facing plunder and graft charges for allegedly pocketing P224.5 million in kickbacks after channeling his PDAF allocations to the bogus non-government organizations of detained businesswoman and alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

During the trial, the prosecution presented Junelyn Pagunsan, associate graft investigator at the Office of the Ombudsman, who evaluated documents pertaining to Revilla's PDAF allocation from 2007 to 2009 to the alleged beneficiaries of the bogus NGOs.

Defense lead counsel Estelito Mendoza, however, objected, saying that Pagunsan's testimony is "completely irrelevant" on the core elements of the case.

Associate Justices Efren Dela Cruz and Geraldine Faith Econg, nonetheless, allowed Pagunsan to the witness stand.

During the cross examination by lawyer Ramon Esguerra, Pagunsan admitted that she did not include Revilla's earnings in movies and television shows in her investigation accusing the former lawmaker to have amassed millions in ill-gotten wealth.

Revilla, for his part, said his lawyers were pointing out if his showbiz career is capable of earning more than P224.5 million.

"Ang pinoint out lang ng ating lawyer doon na kumbaga kung naimbestigahan ba nila kung ilan yung mga pelikulang nagawa ko, yung income ko, yung mga pelikula na yan, production outfit, sa telebisyon na nagawa ko," Revilla said after the day's hearing.

"Para mas klaro kung kaya ko ba kumita talaga ng ganoong amount, kung meron ba silang nakita sa bank account ko," he added.

Lead prosecutor Joefferson Toribio emphasized that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has proven that Revilla had unexplained wealth as mentioned in its report presented during the former lawmaker's bail hearing.

"Remember the AMLC conducted the investigation on that," he added. "As far as the court is concerned, I think one of the evidence that was considered was the AMLC report."

Mendoza said the prosecution “has not proven any of the core elements of plunder, and that is the accumulation of ill-gotten wealth” on Revilla's case.

The next hearing of Revilla's plunder trial will be on July 27 as the alleged beneficiaries of the bogus NGOs failed to attend the hearing due to a scheduled seminar. — RSJ/KVD, GMA News