Revilla is accused of funneling millions of pesos in his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel fund to fictitious non-goverment organizations for kickbacks.
In his Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration, Revilla’s main argument centered on his defense that his signature was forged in some of the documents to make it appear that he endorsed the dubious NGOs of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles as recipients of his PDAF.
Revilla’s camp has repeatedly said that whistleblowers who were formerly employed by Napoles had admitted forging signatures in documents to secure millions of pesos in PDAF allocations for her NGOs.
“The Court erred in finding the signatures of Senator Revilla in the PDAF documents were not forged. On the contrary, Sen, Revilla was able to sufficiently establish that his purported signatures were forged. This assertion, in fact, has been confirmed by the prosecution’s own witness, [Benhur] Luy,” the 32-page motion said.
During his bail hearing, Revilla hired handwriting analyst, lawyer Desiderio Pagui, to boost his case. Pagui admitted in open court that Revilla paid him P200,000 to examine documents related to the senator’s PDAF allocations. Paqui examined photocopies since the originals were unavailable.
But in his motion for reconsideration, Revilla asked the court to compel the Commission on Audit to provide the originals of the documents with the disputed signatures so they can be properly examined.
“It is respectfully prayed that the Honorable Court allow Sen. Revilla to adduce evidence for the purpose of his bail application by requiring the Commission on Audit to make available the originals of the PDAF Documents for the examination of the his handwriting experts,” Revilla’s motion read.
Revilla also asked the court to “permit handwriting experts to examine and valuate the originals of the PDAF Documents.”
In addition, he asked the anti-graft court to hear Pagui’s testimony again, and that of another handwriting expert.
“[It is prayed for that the court] allow the additional testimony of Atty. Pagui on the blown up or enlargements photographs he made and which he used in his examination as well as the testimony of the other handwriting expert, Mr. Roger Azores,” the motion said. —KBK, GMA News
