Ombudsman Says Bong Revilla Has Yet to Pay ₱124.5 Million to the Government
BONG REVILLA – Although Bong Revilla has secured his temporary release through bail, authorities pointed out that a court-ordered civil liability worth ₱124.5 million remains unpaid.
Former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has regained his temporary freedom after posting a ₱1 million bail in connection with his ongoing malversation case. However, despite securing his release, the Office of the Ombudsman said he has yet to settle more than ₱124 million in civil liabilities stemming from previous plunder and graft cases linked to the pork barrel controversy.
Revilla walked out of the Quezon City Jail on Friday evening after the Sandiganbayan Third Division approved his bail. His release came years after the anti-graft court cleared him of plunder charges in 2018 and acquitted him of 16 related graft cases in 2021.
According to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, although Revilla was acquitted of criminal liability in the plunder case, the court still required him to reimburse the government. During his weekly radio program, “Executive Session,” on dzRH, Remulla explained that the Sandiganbayan ordered the former senator to pay ₱124.5 million in civil damages to the national treasury.
“Until now, the money has yet to be returned (to the government),” he said.
Remulla also emphasized the need for the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, to closely monitor cases involving substantial civil liabilities arising from criminal proceedings. He stressed that when courts order public funds to be returned, compliance should be properly enforced.
Revilla was among three senators accused in 2014 over the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam involving businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles. Alongside former Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, he faced allegations of receiving illegal kickbacks from government-funded projects.
Prosecutors alleged that Revilla received ₱224.5 million in kickbacks, the largest amount attributed to any of the three lawmakers. While he was acquitted of plunder in 2018, his former chief of staff, Richard Cambe, and Napoles were found guilty. In July 2021, the Sandiganbayan also cleared Revilla of the remaining graft charges.
Following his acquittal, the Office of the Ombudsman filed a motion in 2019 asking the anti-graft court to require Revilla to satisfy the civil damages imposed by the ruling. Government prosecutors argued that while an accused may be acquitted because guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, courts may still order the payment of civil liabilities.
At the time, Revilla’s lawyer, Estelito Mendoza, maintained that his client should not be required to pay civil damages or be “punished by any measure” after being cleared of criminal charges.
According to Remulla, the ₱124.5 million civil obligation remains unpaid to this day.
When asked by the Philippine Daily Inquirer whether Revilla now intends to settle the amount, one of his staff members declined to comment, saying the former senator should not be disturbed because he needed “privacy.”
Revilla’s legal troubles are far from over. Nearly five years after his acquittal in the pork barrel-related cases, he was arrested in January over separate graft and malversation charges. The new case accuses him of allegedly conspiring with officials and personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways in connection with a flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, which investigators claimed was nonexistent.
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