Revilla, Jr. vs. Sandiganbayan, 1st Division

Facts:

The Office of the Ombudsman filed an Information in the Sandiganbayan on June 5, 2014 charging Ramon "Bong" B. Revilla, Jr. (then a senator), Richard A. Cambe (Revilla’s former director/Chief of Staff), Janet Lim Napoles, and others with Plunder under RA 7080 for allegedly funneling Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations into ghost projects and receiving kickbacks totaling Php224,512,500.00. Upon arraignment Revilla refused to plead (a not-guilty plea was entered for him), Cambe and Napoles pleaded not guilty, and warrants of arrest were issued on June 19, 2014. Revilla and Cambe voluntarily surrendered and were committed to PNP CIDG custody at Camp Crame.

Revilla, Cambe, and Napoles separately filed applications for bail; the Sandiganbayan conducted summary bail hearings in which the prosecution presented nine witnesses (including COA, DBM, AMLC and whistleblower witnesses) and documentary evidence; the defense presented a handwriting/document expert (Atty. Pagui) and other evidence. The Sandiganbayan issued a detailed summary of the prosecution’s evidence, concluded there was strong evidence of plunder (including findings on NGOs, bank flows, hard-disk ledgers and whistleblowers’ testimony) and on December 1, 2014 denied the three bail applications. Motions for reconsideration were denied on March 26, 2015. Revilla later filed a motion to withdraw his certiorari petition to the Court (21 December 2016), stating he would avail remedies at trial.

Separately, the Office of the Ombudsman moved in the Sandiganbayan to transfer Revilla and Cambe from the PNP Custodial Center to BJMP facilities arguing RA 6975 required BJMP supervision; the Sandiganbayan denied the motion on September 4, 2014 and denied reconsideration on May 20, 2015. The Ombudsman sought certiorari from this denial (docketed G.R. No. 218903).

The Ombudsman also obtained an ex parte writ of preliminary attachment against Revilla’s monies and properties (Sandiganbayan Resolution, February 5, 2015; alias writ July 10, 2015) as security for the alleged Php224,512,500.00 ill-gotten wealth; Revilla’s motion for reconsideration was denied on May 28, 2015 and he filed certiorari (G.R. No. 219162). The Sandiganbayan grounded the attachment on Rules 57 and 127 of the Rules of Court and PD 1606 (as amended) recognizing the ancillary civil action in Sandiganbayan criminal proceedings.

The...(Pro-only)

Issues:

• Did the Sandiganbayan commit grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in denying the bail applications of the accused charged with plunder?

• Did the Sandiganbayan commit grave abuse of discretion in refusing the prosecution’s motion to transfer Revilla and Cambe from PNP custody to BJMP-operated detention facilities?

• Did the Sandiganbayan commit grave abuse of discretion in granting the writ of preliminary attachment over Revilla’s monies and properties?

• (Subsidiary) Does Revilla’s withdrawal of his petition to the Su...(Pro-only)

Ruling:

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Ratio:

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Doctrine:

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