IN between sobs, the young Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla told his weeping father, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., “I’m sorry, Papa. I’m sorry.”
Revilla, who embraced his 26-year-old son, replied: “It’s all right, son. You have to be strong.”
The exchange took place at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City, where the younger Revilla was taken Saturday morning, after he accidentally shot himself in the chest while cleaning his .40 Glock handgun.
Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla, at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in
Muntinlupa City, where the young Revilla was taken last Saturday after
he supposedly accidentally shot himself in the chest while cleaning
a handgun.
The family dismissed speculation that the younger Revilla deliberately shot himself in a fit of depression over his father’s incarceration on graft and plunder charges.
The Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court trying Revilla’s case, allowed the senator to leave detention for five hours, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to visit his son, whose condition was said to be deteriorating.
Raymond Fortun, a spokesman for Revilla, said several family members also shed tears when they saw father and son hugging each other.
Fortun said the father and son did not talk about the circumstances of the shooting.
The younger Revilla’s left lung had collapsed and he was in a lot of pain, Fortun said.
Doctors also discovered a problem in his abdomen that would require a CT scan on Wednesday, he added.
Before this, the vice governor’s girlfriend, actress Jodi Sta. Maria, said she noticed that his abdomen was bloated and that he had vomited blood.
Fortun said Revilla’s condition has not improved, and in fact has deteriorated.
In a statement, Senator Revilla said he was thankful to God for Jolo’s life, to the Filipino people who prayed for his son, and the Sandiganbayan for allowing him to visit him.
The senator said he was sad that he could do nothing more to ease his son’s sufferings.
“We are continuously praying for the improvement of his condition. I believe that all of these things happening to us are part of the challenges to our family to strengthen our belief in God,” said Revilla, who appealed for more prayers.
Raquel Fortun, a forensic pathologist from the University of the Philippines’ College of Medicine, said accidental firing while gun-cleaning has been a common excuse of people trying to commit suicide.
“From my experience, such kind of scenario is always being used as an excuse to deny that one has not attempted to shoot and kill one’s self,” she told News to Go television interview.
But she added that this did not mean Revilla deliberately shot himself, particularly since the location of his entry wound, above the right nipple, is a common are were a person could accidentally shoot himself. – With Rio N. Araja