Senator Bong Revilla, shown in photo on his way to be detained on plunder and graft charges, said his lawyer, Sal Panelo, only talked about the rats and roaches in his cell in jest. Revilla’s lawyer has said the senator’s family saw rats “as big as cats” inside the senator’s cell. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Sandiganbayan on Thursday gave the camps of detained Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., his staff Richard Cambe, and Janet Lim-Napoles 10 days to comment on the motion seeking their transfer of detention.
Prosecutors earlier said the current detention areas of the three – PNP Custodial Center for Revilla and Cambe and Fort Sto. Domingo in Laguna for Napoles – have no legal basis as these are not detention cells.
The prosecutors said Section 3, Rule 113 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure states that an accused arrested by virtue of an arrest warrant must be delivered to the nearest police station or jail.
“As understood in our jurisdiction, ‘jail’ refers to a facility or place of confinement for inmates undergoing trial and is managed and supervised by the provincial government and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology,” they said.
The prosecution wants the three to be transferred to an ordinary detention facility like Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, saying aside from lack of basis, their continued detention at their present locations affords them special treatment as they are subjected to different rules and procedure not afforded to all other detention prisoners under the control of the BJMP.
The court also gave the prosecutors 10 days upon receipt of the comment of the accused to respond.
After the comments of both parties have been received, the court will then issue its decision on the motion.
Revilla, Cambe and Napoles have been charged with graft and plunder in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam, which involved the funneling of public funds through bogus non-government organizations for kickbacks.
Meanwhile, the preliminary conference and pre-trial of the accused set on July 21 have been postponed due to the prosecution’s consolidated motion for amended information.
The court gave the defense 10 days from Monday to file its comment/opposition and five days for the prosecution to respond to the comment of the defense. (MNS)