Public cautioned on press releases vs Bong

MANILA, Philippines - Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez cautioned yesterday the people against getting influenced by the expected flood of press releases, statements and commentaries projecting a guilty image of Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.

Romualdez, leader of the so-called independent bloc in the House of Representatives and president of the Lakas-Christian and Muslim Democrats which Revilla chairs, said now that the senator has voluntarily turned himself in to the Sandiganbayan, the people should be wary of statements from different sources on the issue, and rely only on the pronouncements of the anti-graft court.

“Just because he has been confined at the PNP Custodial Center does not mean that Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. is already guilty of plunder over the pork barrel scam,” the lawmaker said.

A lawyer himself, Romualdez said under the law, it’s only the Sandiganbayan which has the legal and moral authority to declare Revilla guilty or not.

“Nobody else can, not even President Aquino or his spokespersons, the media or any private individual,” he said.

“Whoever tries to condition or influence the public mind of the senator’s guilt in any manner whatsoever is the one who’s trying to cover up something unlawful and immoral,” he added. He cited the “brave and humble gesture” of Revilla to cooperate with the Sandiganbayan.

He reiterated that while the Lakas-CMD is giving the senator its full support, it is not in any way intervening in the trial.

“But we will dig deeper into the scam and continue pressing this administration for the same probe of all personalities being linked to the fraud. There should be no political color and the President’s allies should be included,” Romualdez said.

“Let us not forget that apart from Senators Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile and their co-accused, a lot more people have been implicated in the scam, including allies of President Aquino,” he said.

He said up to this day, no legal action has been taken by anybody against any of Aquino’s allies.

“We find this grossly unfair at the very least and selective justice at its worst. We definitely won’t take this sitting down. I just hope that the Aquino government would be as fast as they had processed the case of Sen. Revilla in helping our people in Tacloban and Leyte,” Romualdez said.

“It’s been more than seven months since Typhoon Yolanda hit our province, but until now thousands of survivors are still clamoring for help from the government,” he said.