MANILA, Philippines — Detained former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. is again seeking a Senate seat in the May 2019 elections, former Leyte congressman Martin Romualdez, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) president, announced yesterday.

Revilla is Lakas chairman. He is in jail for plunder for allegedly pocketing millions in commissions from the supposed misuse of his pork barrel funds.

“This decision was reached after a series of consultations with his family, close friends, constituents and political leaders. He is one of the most qualified senatorial aspirants,” Romualdez said.

He said Revilla’s previous two terms in the Senate have “helped him gain an understanding about the complexities of various problems besetting the nation.”

He said the former senator’s “integrity and honesty will make him a strong candidate for the Senate.”

Revilla is the second former senator facing plunder charges to mount a senatorial comeback. The first is Jinggoy Estrada.

The two and former senator Juan Ponce Enrile are being tried by the Sandiganbayan along with Janet Lim-Napoles, the suspected mastermind of the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

Charged with them and Napoles are the senators’ senior aides, some of whom are also in jail.

Estrada and Enrile are out on bail. Estrada has been going around the country and abroad.

Estrada’s half-brother, incumbent Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, will seek a second term in the May 2019 elections. most likely as part of an administration-backed common ticket.

Revilla is detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City since the filing of plunder and graft cases against him by the Office of the Ombudsman in June 2014.

The cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of Revilla’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel during his term as a senator for supposed fictitious or “ghost” livelihood projects.

The ombudsman said Revilla, through his then aide Richard Cambe, received from Napoles a total of P224.5 million in kickbacks or commissions in exchange for the allocation of his PDAF to the latter’s bogus non-government organizations.

Cambe is also detained at the PNP Custodial Center while Napoles, the alleged brains of the pork scam, is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The Sandiganbayan First Division had earlier confirmed that the plunder case against Revilla, Cambe and Napoles is already submitted for resolution on Sept. 11 after both the defense and prosecution teams have filed their respective memoranda, containing the summary of their arguments as well as the testimonial and documentary evidence they presented in the course of trial.

In a phone interview with The STAR yesterday, one of Revilla’s lawyers, Ramon Esguerra, said the former senator has yet to consult his legal team on his course action in the coming campaign period.

Esguerra, however, said there is no law barring a detained candidate to seek furlough during the campaign season.

“Of course, he [Revilla] can file, though we have yet to talk about it. It will depend entirely on the sound discretion of the Sandiganbayan, assuming that the case is still pending come the campaign period. Ultimately, it will be the Sandiganbayan which will decide whether there is ground to grant a furlough,” Esguerra said.

Though the case has been submitted for resolution, First Division clerk of court lawyer Estela Teresita Rosete said the court has yet to set the tentative date of promulgation, wherein the court’s verdict will be read aloud in front of Revilla.

Article VIII, Section 15 (1) of the 1987 Constituion, however, provides that all criminal cases submitted for resolution must be resolved within 90 days or three months by all lower courts, including the Sandiganbayan. – Elizabeth Marcelo