Sandiganbayan defers Revilla plunder trial to Feb. 15

PLUNDER TRIAL DEFERRED. Former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. being interviewed by the media (File photo courtesy of PTV)

MANILA — The Sandiganbayan has granted the motion of former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. to defer his plunder trial until Feb. 15, 2018.

This after Sandiganbayan First Division Chairman Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz granted the cancellation of the presentation of evidence by the defense on Thursday despite the opposition of the prosecution.

Because of this, Revilla still has the time to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court (SC) pursuant to the petition for certiorari that he filed with the high court.

According to the prosecution, the trial of Revilla should not be deferred, based on the Rules of Court, which did not oppose the cancellation of the hearings if there was no TRO from the SC.

But then, after the Sandiganbayan granted Revilla’s motion, his legal counsel, former Solicitor General and erstwhile Minister of Justice Estelito Mendoza, said that the defense was hoping that the SC would grant their petition for the issuance of a TRO before February 15.

The Sandiganbayan said if Revilla failed to secure a TRO before February 15, the defense should present their evidence.

Revilla is facing plunder case and 16 counts of graft for allegedly amassing PHP224.5 million in “kickbacks” from the “ghost projects” funded by his priority development assistance fund (PDAF), or “pork barrel” funds, from 2006 to 2010, which were purportedly allotted to “bogus” non-government organizations (NGOs) operated by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.

Napoles is the alleged “brains” behind the controversial PHP10-billion pork barrel and the PHP900-million Malampaya fund scams.