The Supreme Court has denied the appeal of detained former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. to quash the order of the Sandiganbayan freezing his assets, in connection with the P224.5-million plunder case arising from the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.
During its en banc session on Tuesday, the SC resolved to dismiss for lack of merit the petition of Revilla seeking for reversal of the February 2015 ruling of the Sandiganbayan First Division that issued a writ of preliminary attachment over bank assets and properties under his name and his wife, Bacoor City, Mayor Lani Mercado.
Instead, the high court upheld the writ issued by the anti-graft court, saying it was “not the penalty of forfeiture envisioned by law, contrary to Revilla’s argument and that it is an ancillary remedy that can be availed of during the pendency of a criminal case of plunder without waiting for the final resolution of the bail petition before it can be issued.”
The writ was issued upon motion by prosecution in October 2014 which sought garnishment of Revilla’s assets, properties and bank accounts saying there is a need to preserve the alleged ill-gotten wealth to ensure payments and recovery of such in favor of the state in the event that the accused is found guilty of plunder.
Covered by the writ includes 44 bank accounts except those that were already closed by the senator when the scam was made public, 15 motor vehicles, 28 real estate properties, 5 shares in separate stocks valued at P1.14 million and a total of 12 shares in exclusive clubs and private companies.
“You are hereby ordered to secure and attach the properties of accused Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., attach so much of the property in the Philippines of the said accused, not exempt from execution, as may be sufficient to satisfy the applicant’s demand in an amount not exceeding P224,512,500 in value,” the court order stated.
The former senator still has a pending petition before the SC seeking issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction to stop the anti-graft court from further proceeding with the plunder case against him.
Meanwhile, the high tribunal also dismissed the petitions of Revilla’s chief of staff Richard Cambe and alleged PDAF scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles seeking bail grant in this plunder case.
Just like Revilla’s petition, the SC ruled that the bail petitions lacked merit as it upheld the joint resolution of the Sandiganbayan in December 2014 denying their bail applications.
The SC agreed with the anti-graft court’s finding “that the prosecution duly established with strong evidence that Revilla, Cambe, and Napoles in conspiracy with one another, committed the offense of plunder and, thus, are not entitled to the constitutional right to bail.”
Revilla also filed a similar petition before the SC, but later on, withdrew his petition so he could not be covered by the latest ruling.
The High Tribunal also rejected the bid of the Office of the Ombudsman to transfer the detention of Revilla, Cambe and Napoles to a city jail. Revilla and Cambe are currently detained the Philippine National Police custodial center in Quezon City while Napoles is in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
The Court also agreed with the anti-graft court that there was no justifiable ground for the transfer.