SC affirms dismissal of Napoles bail plea, freeze of Revilla's assets

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court upheld Tuesday Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of the plea for provisional liberty of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and the ex-aide of former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. 

Napoles and Richard Cambe, staff of Revilla, asked the high court to assail the Sandiganbayan resolution in 2014 that junked the plea for bail of Revilla, Cambe and Napoles over a plunder case involving the amount of P224,512,000.

The three initially assailed the Sandiganbayan resolution, but Revilla later withdrew his petition.

On July 24, the high court dismissed the pleas of Cambe and Napoles due to “lack of merit.”

The SC held that the Sandiganbayan “committed no grave abuse of discretion in denying bail as there was, on record, strong evidence of guilt as required by the Constitution and the Rules of Court, to deny bail as a matter of right.”

The high court, however, stressed that in denying the petitions, the ruling “does not touch upon the guilt or innocence of the accused.”

Revilla plea

In the same ruling, the SC also upheld the Sandiganbayan order to freeze Revilla’s assets.

It said that the anti-graft court did not commit grave abuse of discretion in ordering the attachment against Revilla’s monies and properties.

READ: Revilla asks Sandigan: Reconsider freeze order

In 2015, the Sandiganbayan ordered a freeze on P224 million in Revilla’s assets, the amount which supposedly covers the value of the so-called rebates and kickbacks the former senator received from Napoles.

In resolving Revilla’s plea, the SC said: “The Court found that the preliminary attachment issued by the Sandiganbayan should be upheld as all the requisites for the issuance have been complied with. The writ may issue where there is an allegation of misappropriation of public funds, which is one of the predicate acts for Plunder, of which Revilla is charged.”

The government's continuing probe into the multi-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel scam will be carried out by the next graft-buster as Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales' term will expire on Thursday, July 26.