MANILA, Philippines— A criminal law expert has accused the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of “railroading” the malversation of public funds case against former senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., saying the proceedings were conducted with “extraordinary haste” and in violation of due process.
Lorna Pantajo-Kapunan, a veteran defense lawyer and human rights advocate, said the handling of the case showed an “alarming trend towards bending the law to suit transitory political exigencies at the expense of institutional safeguards guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.”
Kapunan pointed to what she described as the “obscene haste” in the issuance of the warrant of arrest against Revilla, which she said was released barely an hour after the voluminous records were transmitted to the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan.
She also said the Ombudsman filed the information without first furnishing Revilla’s camp a copy of the resolution finding probable cause.
“All of these acts evince a pattern of railroading the complaint to give rise to a finding of probable cause so that a warrant may be issued against Revilla without regard to proper procedures and due process,” Kapunan said.
Kapunan claimed that Revilla was not provided a copy of the complaint-affidavit and was instead served only with a motion to include him as a respondent.
“By doing so, he was not only deprived of his right to respond to the evidence against him, but he was kept ignorant of the very existence of such evidence,” she said.
She added that documents necessary for Revilla’s defense were allegedly not made available, including project documents, bidding records and audit reports.
Kapunan stressed that while prosecutors have broad discretion in determining charges, this authority should not override the constitutional rights of the accused.
“The prosecution may have wide leeway in determining the charges to be filed based on the evidence available, but this should not be in contravention of the right of the accused to confront the same evidence which may be used against him,” she said.
Revilla is currently detained over alleged involvement in anomalous flood control projects.
