No freeze order means no irregularities in Bong Revilla's bank accounts —lawyer

Lead defense counsel Estelito Mendoza on Tuesday said the absence of a freeze order on the bank accounts of detained former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. proves there were no illegal activities on the bank accounts of his client in relation to his plunder case related to the alleged pork barrel scam.

Interviewed after Revilla's trial at the Sandiganbayan, Mendoza said the absence of a freeze order "means the AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) did not find any evidence of any unlawful activity including plunder based on their examination of records."

"I think that is very clear," he said.

During the hearing, the prosecution presented Metrobank chief compliance officer lawyer Donato Espino  to give details on the bank records of the Revilla family.

Espino said he received three letters of request from AMLC with an attached resolution from the Court of Appeals (CA) authorizing the inquiry of Revilla's bank records with Metrobank.

Mendoza, in his cross examination, asked Espino if AMLC issued any freeze order related to the accounts of Revilla, which the witness answered he cannot recall.

Espino then changed his answer from "I think so" to "not sure" when asked by First Division Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Econg on whether he can confirm if there was a freeze order on the bank accounts of the former lawmaker.

Espino said the CA resolution was issued two years ago and he can no longer remember the exact details. He, however, confirmed that there was a freeze order on the bank accounts of businesswoman and alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

"So you rembeber some of the names?" Econg said, to which Espino replied, "Yes."

Mendoza said he thinks Espino is not telling the truth in his testimony, adding AMLC can issue a freeze order on questionable bank accounts under the law but no order was issued on the accounts of Revilla.

"Under the AMLA law, if there is probable cause that any of the money was used for illegal activity, that includes plunder, then the Anti-Money Laundering Council will issue a freeze order. But based on the testimonies of so many bank representatives the AMLC did not issue a freeze order, the witness, hindi nagsasabi ng totoo," Mendoza said.

Revilla, meanwhile, told reporters after the hearing that Espino's testimony proves there was no "red flag" in his bank accounts.

"Yung witness nila, walang maalala. 'I don’t remember, I don’t remember,' pero sa iba, confirm siya, pero sa akin, hindi niya maalala. Isang patunay lang yun na wala, no red flag," said Revilla, who was accompanied by actor Philip Salvador to the hearing.

However, lead prosecutor Joefferson Torribio said there was indeed a freeze order on the accounts of Napoles and Revilla, saying Espino only had a hard time recalling which accounts.

"Based on the testimony of the witness he said that there was a freeze order for the Janet Napoles accounts with Metrobank and there was also a freeze order for the Revilla accounts only that he cannot remember the specific accounts because there were many accounts," Torribio said in a text message.

The prosecution has at least one more witness to present pending its motion for reconsideration to recall a witness from the Commission on Audit.

On the other hand, Mendoza moved for the recall of pork-scam whistle-blowers Benhur Luy, Marina Sula, Merlina Sunas, and Mary Arlene Baltazar for additional cross examination. —KBK/KVD, GMA News