Tell it to SunStar: Revilla’s acquittal

THIS is about the decision of the anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan, acquitting former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. of plunder in relation to the accusation that he surreptitiously pocketed P224.5 million worth of kickbacks in the country’s biggest corruption scandal involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a yearly lump sum or discretionary fund that members of Congress use for government programs to benefit the people, most especially the poor.

Before the Supreme Court nullified the PDAF after the P10 billion pork barrel scam was uncovered, each senator was given P200 million and each member of the House of Representatives was given P70 million in PDAF.

One can just imagine, therefore, the enormous amount of money that Revilla, together with then senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, had at their disposal. The Commission on Audit found out in 2013 that most of the 2007-2009 PDAF went to phony non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and ghost projects instead of being funneled to legitimate government organizations, as was the intention, to alleviate and improve the quality of lives of the poor Filipinos.

It was on this basis that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed plunder cases against some lawmakers that ultimately led to their arrest.

While Enrile was granted freedom for humanitarian reasons in 2015, being sickly and old, and Estrada was freed in 2017 after the anti-graft court ruled that “there was no strong evidence” that he was the “main plunderer” in the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, Revilla stayed detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame until the announcement of his acquittal.

For many who hoped for the conviction of the three former senators and would have considered it not only a moral victory for the Filipino people but also a lesson taught for politicians to truly work for the interest of the people first as they have been sworn to do, the Revilla episode is indeed a very despairing decision.

It simply means that acquittal also awaits Enrile and Estrada in due time.

We thought lady justice had finally snared the big fishes. Alas, like former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before them, the said senators may get off the hook cheerfully to the dismay of many.

But does this mean our giving up hope? Of course not.

Enrile looks hale and hearty again and is in fact running for senator in 2019. So is Estrada and Revilla, who have always expressed their intentions to make a comeback at the propitious time.

On the part of the aggrieved Filipinos smarting from the seemingly unjust ruling, I could not see a more opportune time than in next year’s senatorial elections for them to exact retribution. All we have to do now is start talking and convincing other people that the elections are going to be payback time and they should not have any of these candidates and their ilk elected to the Senate ever again. That would be doing our country a big favor.

This is a collective exercise of poetic justice at its best. (Jesus Sievert)