Metro Manila, Philippines – After six months in detention, former Senator Bong Revilla secured provisional liberty following the Sandiganbayan Third Division’s approval of his bail appeal in the malversation charges linked to the multi-billion peso flood control scandal.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology said Revilla was released from the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory at 6:14 p.m., after posting a ₱1-million bail.
Revilla was detained in January for a non-bailable malversation case. He is facing a separate graft charge.
In a statement, Rean Balisi, the former senator’s lawyer said the court ruling “affirms the truth that the evidence of guilt is not strong.”
“Sen. Revilla is thankful and elated. He will be spending time with his family whom he has been apart from for the last 6 months,” Balisi said.
The Office of the Ombudsman, meanwhile, said, while it respects the Sandiganbayan order, its prosecutors will exhaust legal remedies to prove that the evidence of guilt is strong.
Granted bail appeal
In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said the prosecution failed to establish strong evidence of guilt in the malversation of public funds through falsification of documents.
The prosecution had accused Revilla of conspiring with officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to facilitate the release of around ₱76 million for the project in Pandi, Bulacan, which investigators later on found out as non-existent.
They also alleged that Revilla received advance kickbacks representing a percentage in the funds for the project.
“The prosecution fell short in presenting strong evidence of guilt during the bail hearings regarding his participation as conspirator as to the charge of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents,” the resolution read.
However, the Sandiganbayan said granting the bail appeal does not mean Revilla is innocent.
“It only means that the pieces of evidence, as adduced by the prosecution during the bail hearings and for the purpose of granting provisional liberty, were not strong enough to establish accused Revilla’s participation in the elaborate scheme alleged in the Information,” it said, adding that the prosecution may still try to prove their case once they present their evidence in chief.
Meanwhile, the court denied the bail applications of other accused in the case, including former engineers of the DPWH Bulacan 1st district engineering office: Brice Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig, and Emelita Juat.
Others were accountant Juanito Mendoza, and cashier Christina Pineda.
The court said the appeal was denied because of strong evidence of guilt.
