Will anything come out of this?
The plunder trial of former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. in connection with the pork barrel fund scam will finally start on Jan 12, 2017.
“The Sandiganbayan’s First Division scheduled the start of the trial proper after the Office of the Ombudsman prosecutors and defense lawyers finished the pre-marking of evidence and completed pre-trial procedures,” reports Michael Punongbayan in The Philippine Star.
The report noted: “Revilla is accused of misusing his priority development assistance fund allocations from 2007 to 2009 and receiving PHP224.5 million in alleged kickbacks or commissions from questionable non-government organizations controlled by alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.”
Revilla surrendered to the authorities in June 2014. Since then, he has been detained at the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame. Also detained is his good friend and fellow former senator Jinggoy Estrada — the son of former president and now current Manila mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada.
Along with Revilla, Estrada, and former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile was also detained for alleged involvement in the pork barrel fund scam.
But while Revilla and Estrada’s motions for bail have been denied, Enrile’s was granted by the Supreme Court.
