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) — Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. on Thursday confirmed that he had closed several banks accounts at the time when the pork barrel fund scam was exposed by the media.
“I’m not denying that. That is true,” Revilla said in a chance interview with reporters at the sidelines of the hearing of his petition for bail before the Sandiganbayan First Division.
“Kung sa inyo man mangyari, marami nag-a-advise sa ‘yo, ‘Pag ‘di mo nilabas ang pera mo sa bangko ifri-freeze ‘yan.’
“Ilalabas mo rin, ‘di ba? That’s a normal reaction ng kahit na sinong tao… dahil pinaghirapan mo ‘yan ng legal, eh,” the detained senator said.
Revilla, however, maintained that all the money in his bank accounts were acquired legally, especially from his income as an actor, pointing out that he entered show business at a very young age.
“Basta ang masasabi ko lang, we can justify everything. Lahat ‘yan pinaghirapan namin. Bata palang ako artista na ako at mayaman na ako,” Revilla said.
From his most recent television series alone, he earned as much as P40 million,” the senator claimed.
“Siguro naman sa larangan ng pagkita, bilang Bong Revilla, isa rin naman ako sa masasabi na kundi man highest, siguro one of the highest paid actors sa bansa… Hindi naman sa pagyayabang,” Revilla said.
“Inuulit ko, wala kaming ninakaw na kahit magkano sa taong bayan. Mapapatunayan natin ito, lalabas din ang katotohanan,” he added.
Deposits made
In a testimony last week, lawyer and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) investigator Leigh Vhon Santos revealed that Revilla closed some 20 bank accounts containing millions of pesos in June to September 2013 –the period when media was hot on the scandal.
Santos also revealed that sometime in 2007 to 2009, several deposits amounting P27 million were also made to the bank account of Nature Concepts Development and Realty Corporation, a company controlled by Revilla’s wife, Cavite Rep. Lanie Mercado.
Santos said the deposits were maid around the time that Atty. Richard Cambe allegedly received kickbacks on behalf of Revilla for the funneling, supposedly, of the latter’s pork barrel fund to the bogus non-government organizations of Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains of the scam.
Cambe was Revilla’s senior chief of staff.
Santos revealed that the AMLC came to the conclusion that Nature Concepts had no real operations since records from the Securities and Exchanges Commission showed no corporate as well as financial activities.
Mercado denied the allegation, maintaining that Nature Concepts is legitimate company.
“Hindi totoo ‘yung paratang na dummy corporation ‘yun. Maipapaliwanag namin ‘yan sa korte,” Mercado said.
“Everything is legal. Wala kaming tinatago. Lahat ‘yan lalabas sa korte,” Revilla said. (MNS)