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THE Sandiganbayan Third Division on Friday granted the bail application of former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. in the malversation case stemming from the P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Bulacan.
In a resolution promulgated on July 31, the anti-graft court ordered Revilla’s provisional release after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish strong evidence of guilt.
The Sandiganbayan denied the bail applications of Revilla’s co-accused — engineers Brice Ericson Diaz Hernandez, Jaypee De Leon Mendoza, Arjay Salvador Domasig, Emelita Capistrano Juat, as well as Department of Public Works and Highways Bulacan First District Engineering Office finance section chief Juanito Coronel Mendoza and cashier Christina Mae Del Rosario Pineda.
In denying their application, the court cited “strong evidence of their guilt as to the charge of malversation through falsification of public documents.”
According to Ombudsman prosecutors, Revilla and his co-accused falsely declared the flood control project had been completed, falsified accomplishment reports, prepared fraudulent billing documents and endorsed disbursement vouchers that facilitated the release of the project’s full cost.
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A court inspection later found that no physical structure had been built on the project site in Pandi, Bulacan.
The Office of the Ombudsman said it will appeal the court ruling.
“We will exhaust all remedies to highlight the basis for which we can say that evidence of guilt is indeed strong against former Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla,” it said in a statement.
Revilla had posted a P90,000 bail before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division for the separate graft charge arising from the same case.
Later in the day, Revilla posted the P1-million cash bond set by the Sandiganbayan, paving the way for his release from the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, Quezon City, where he had been detained since his arrest in January.