Detained senator Ramon Revilla Jr. has asked the Sandiganbayan to allow him to visit his son, 26-year-old Cavite Vice Governor Jolo Revilla, who is in hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the chest.
Initial reports say the younger Revilla was cleaning his government-issued gun Saturday night at their Muntinlupa residence when he accidentally pulled the trigger.
He was rushed to the Asian Hospital where he underwent a two-hour operation. He is now recovering at the hospital’s intensive care unit.
“He was a little bit sorry,” according to Revilla’s spokesman, lawyer Raymond Fortun. “He told me he had made a mistake.”
But talent manager Lolit Solis, a close friend of the family, said Jolo had been depressed for some time about what had been happening to his father.
The elder Revilla has been at the PNP Custodial Center since June last year on plunder charges. He is accused of dealing with the non-government organizations set up by Janet Lim Napoles using his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations.
“Because of his current detention, Sen. Revilla does not know, and is anxious to know, the true condition and status of Jolo,” the senator’s motion said. The senator appealed for compassion as he was said to be “distraught” over what happened to his son.
The Sandiganbayan has asked government prosecutors to immediately comment on the senator’s motion.
Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, head of the National Capital Region Police Office of the PNP, asked the Revilla family to cooperate with a probe to determine whether the wound was indeed self-inflicted or the result of foul play.
Medical records will also be used in the investigation. “This is part of our standard operating procedure,” Valmoria said.