Lani worried about Bong’s health condition in jail

Sen. Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. with wife Lani Mercado face the public on the night before he surrenders to PNP. Screenshot of Solar News footage.

MANILA — Bacoor Congresswoman Lani Mercado-Revilla and her children can’t help but worry about their family man, Sen. Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. — one of the lawmakers implicated in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Revilla turned himself in to the authorities on Friday, June 20 — the same day the Sandiganbayan issued the warrant for his arrest. He was with his wife Lani and their children when he surrendered at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

On his first night in prison, Revilla complained about the heat, which caused him migraine. All his family could do was bring food and water for him.

“Tumataas ang BP [blood pressure] niya pag mina-migraine siya, ‘yon ang problema. So, we have to control that at ‘yon ang ipinakiusap ko sa kanila kasi if that happens, puwedeng mag-cause ng aneurysm, puwede kasing pumutok ang ugat niyan eh,” said Lani in an interview with ABS-CBN’s primetime news program ‘Bandila.’

(His blood pressure shoots up whenever he has a migraine, that’s the problem. So, we have to control that and that’s what we’re asking for, because if that happens, it can cause an aneurysm. He could pop a vein.)

According to her interview, the family will request to the court of Sen. Revilla can be moved to a different jail cell or at least get a visit from his doctor.

In a separate ABS-CBN report, Lani is asking the court if her husband could have an aircooler in his jail cell to lessen the heat. No word from the Sandiganbayan on this request as of posting.

With everything going on with their family, the kids are the ones most affected.

“Masakit na makita ang iyong ama na nakakulong. Pero expected na rin po namin ito eh. Hoping naman na una, magiging patas naman po ang labanan, na alam din naman po namin na hindi kami iiwan ng Diyos,” said eldest son Brian Revilla.

(It’s painful to see your father in jail, but at the same time we also expected this. We’re still hoping that the proceedings will be fair. We know God will never abandon us.)

PNP gave the Revilla family leeway on its second night, but soon they have to follow the facility’s visiting hours: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM every Thursday and Sunday.

According to Lani, Sen. Revilla asked for his favorite food before they left.

“Yung favorite niya kare-kare ganyan, sinampalukang manok, pagdalaw ulit sa Linggo,” Lani said.

(His favorites are kare-kare, sinampalukang manok [chicken with tamarind]; we’ll bring it when we visit on Sunday.)

Sen. Revilla’s arraignment for his motion for bail is scheduled on June 26th. The motion was submitted despite plunder being a non-bailable offense.

With report from Glen P. Sibonga