Former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. was not among those ordered to pay P124 million in civil liabilities after the Sandiganbayan acquitted him of plunder, his lawyer said Monday.
“There is no basis for them to actually find Senator Bong [Revilla] criminally liable, then very clearly, [he] is not civilly liable,” Ramon Esguerra told the ANC news channel Monday.
Article 100 of the Revised Penal Code states that every person found criminally liable for a felony is also found civilly liable, Esguerra said.
“If Senator Revilla was not found criminally liable by reason of his acquittal, how can he be held civilly liable,” he added.
The anti-graft court acquitted Revilla of plunder, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove he received kickbacks worth P224.5 million after channeling his pork barrel to bogus foundations established by Janet Lim Napoles.
Napoles and Revilla’s former chief of staff Richard Cambe were found guilty of plunder and sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.
They were also ordered to return P124 million to the government.
In his first public speech following his acquittal, Revilla thanked his wife, Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado, for supporting him throughout his four years in detention, then joked that he was now under “house arrest” with tightened security and no possibility of bail.
Napoles asked the Sandiganbayan Monday to allow her to stay in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City until her plunder conviction becomes final, saying there were security threats in the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.
Napoles said the anti-graft court must be able to reconsider her commitment to the women’s correctional since she will exhaust all legal remedies available.
“The judgment of conviction against herein accused has not yet attained finality. The judgment may still be modified as there are still remedies which the accused may exhaust and the period to do so has not yet lapsed,” her lawyer said in a motion.
READ: Lawyers’ group bucks Revilla’s acquittal