Revilla's acquittal sad moment for truth, justice, accountability

Senator Leila de Lima on Saturday lamented Sandiganbanyan's acquittal of former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. of plunder charges, and said that it was a "sad moment for truth, justice and accountability."

In a statement, she warned that Revilla's acquittal would send the "wrong signal" now that "pork barrel" or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) is making a comeback in Congress.

"With Revilla’s acquittal, it now appears that legislators are not responsible for how they use their pork, even if this ends up being plundered," she said.

The Sandiganbayan on Friday said it found Revilla not guilty of plunder in connection with the multi-billion-peso pork barrel fund scam.

The anti-graft court, however, found Revilla's co-accused —businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and lawyer Richard Cambe —guilty and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua.

Napoles is described as the mastermind of the scam while Cambe is Revilla's former legislative aide.

De Lima said the acquittal seems to signal that those implicated in the pork barrel scam have no accountability over their pork allocations.

"If this becomes the trend in the trial of the PDAF Scam plunder and corruption cases, certainly all Senators and Congressmen awaiting trial and judgment at the Sandiganbayan can all rest easy. They will always have their chiefs-of-staff and Napoles to blame for hoodwinking them into giving away their PDAF, without any accountability on their part. And 'forged' signatures would now be a favorite defense," she said.

The senator said that she, along with the justices that dissented, will remain "perplexed" over the "strange outcome" of the judgement on  Revilla's plunder case.

"Under this administration, what is now patently evident is that the corrupt and big plunderers are set free, while critics are targeted and charged with fabricated accusations, and mere suspects are gunned down in broad daylight," she said. —Jessica Bartolome/LBG, GMA News