Once again, former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has won a reprieve from serious charges against him, but Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla reminded him yesterday of some unfinished business: the P123 million the Sandiganbayan ordered Revilla and his co-accused to return to the government in 2019.

The anti-graft court ordered the restitution of the amount when it acquitted Revilla of plunder in the pork barrel scam case in 2018. According to Remulla, the money had yet to be returned.

Remulla raised the matter shortly after the Sandiganbayan granted Revilla bail in a malversation case arising from an alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

“Where is it, why has it yet to be collected, the P123 million Revilla was ordered to return? That was part of the judgment of acquittal. But until now, the money has not been returned,” Remulla said on his radio show.

While the Ombudsman said P123 million, the actual amount stated in the Sandiganbayan decision was P124.5 million.

In that pork barrel case, Revilla was acquitted of plunder, but his former chief of staff Richard Cambe and businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles were convicted over the misuse of his pork barrel funds.

Also, the court said “the accused” were “solidarily and jointly liable to return to the National Treasury” P124.5 million.

In 2018, Revilla’s lawyer Ramon Esguerra contended that his client was not among those ordered to return the amount.

Esquerra said that since Revilla was not found criminally liable, he could not be held civilly liable.

The Office of the Ombudsman in 2019 filed a motion for execution of judgment, contending that Revilla remained civilly liable and should return the P124.5 million. Revilla’s camp opposed the motion.

Appeal coming

Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman will challenge the recent ruling granting bail to Revilla.

“We will exhaust all legal remedies to highlight the basis for which we can say that evidence of guilt is indeed strong against former Senator Revilla,” it said.

The anti-graft court, in a 2-1 ruling, said it was not shown how Revilla facilitated the inclusion of the projects in the budget, and there was no evidence to show that he agreed or knew that the advance kickback allegedly given to him would come from the alleged commission of malversation.

The court also said the money given to Revilla was collected from contractors and did not constitute public funds.

While it found that the evidence of his guilt was not strong for purposes of granting him bail, this did not mean that there was reasonable doubt as to his guilt, given that the prosecution had yet to present its evidence.

Revilla posted P1-million bail on Friday evening, and he was freed from the Quezon City Jail.

“We predicted this would happen. We already knew this. There was always the possibility that someone had worked behind the scenes to secure the grant of bail,” Remulla said on Saturday,

He said he plans to seek a meeting with Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, saying he wants to ensure that the judiciary remains committed to the fight against corruption before the chief magistrate retires in November.

“I want to talk to the Chief Justice who will be retiring in November so that his legacy will be okay, will be good,” he said.

Remulla also urged the Supreme Court to examine whether officials are abusing their positions and to review how court proceedings are conducted.