Sandiganbayan issues arrest warrant, HDO vs Bong Revilla, 6 others

The Sandiganbayan Third Division has issued a warrant of arrest and a hold departure order against former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and six others facing malversation charges in connection with the alleged P92.8 million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

The issuance of the court orders was confirmed by lawyer Dennis Pulma, Clerk of Court of the Sandiganbayan Third Division, which handles the malversation cases.

“There are findings of probable cause. The warrants of arrest and hold departure orders were already issued [by the court],” Pulma said.

“The electronic warrant was transmitted to the CIDG, NBI, and BI,” he added.

CIDG is the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group; NBI is the National Bureau of Investigation; and BI is the Bureau of Immigration.

The copy of the arrest warrant and Hold Departure Order (HDO) later obtained by journalists covering the Sandiganbayan beat revealed the anti-graft court issued the warrant on January 19, Monday.

“After a careful review of the resolution and its supporting documents, as well as the records, the court finds that probable cause exists in this case, pursuant to Section 5, Rule 112 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure. Accordingly, let warrants of arrest be issued against accused Ramon Bautista Bong Revilla, Jr., a.k.a. Ramon "Bong" Bautista Revilla, Jr., Brice Ericson Diaz Hernandez, Arjay Salvador Domasig, Jayce De Leon Mendoza, Emelita Capistrano Juat, Juanito Coronel Mendoza and Christina Mae Del Rosario Pineda,” the warrant read.

“This Court, in the exercise of its inherent power to use all means necessary to carry its orders into effect, more specifically, to preserve and maintain the effectiveness of its jurisdiction over the cases and the persons of the accused so as to render accused at all times amenable to its writs and processes ( Section 6, Rule 135; Section 23, Rule 114 of the Rules of Court; Santiago vs. Vasquez, et al., 217 SCRA 633), hereby orders the Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration to hold the departure from the Philippines of the above-named accused and to include the names of said accused in the Hold Departure List of said bureau,” the HDO added.

GMA News Online has reached out to Revilla and will update this story once his camp issues a reply.

Aside from Revilla, other respondents in the case include:

• former DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office (DEO) assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez
• former DPWH Bulacan First DEO Engr. Jaypee Mendoza
• former DPWH Bulacan First DEO Engr. Arjay Domasig
• former DPWH Bulacan First DEO Engr. Emelita Juat
• former DPWH Bulacan First DEO finance section chief Juanito Mendoza
• DPWH Bulacan First District Engineering Office cashier Christina Pineda

—MCG/RF, GMA Integrated News