Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla (right, in white) leading the law enforcement team that brought former Sen Ramon Revilla Jr to the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on Jan 20, hours after the latter’s surrender. — PDI
MANILA: Seven years after his 2018 acquittal in a case arising from the pork barrel scam, former Sen Ramon Revilla Jr is back in jail, this time for graft and malversation charges over a flood control project in Bulacan.
The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on Tuesday (Jan 20) ordered the detention of Revilla at New Quezon City Jail following his surrender on Monday night.
The former senator appeared before the court’s Third Division at 10.15am on Tuesday for the processing of his commitment orders and booking procedures.
The court, which issued the arrest warrants against Revilla and six others on Monday, ordered that he be held at the facility run by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Payatas Road in Barangay Bagong Silang, Quezon City.
It said “the accused shall not be moved, removed, transferred, or otherwise released unless ordered by the Court.”
Revilla is facing charges of graft and malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents before the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth and Third Divisions, respectively.
He posted bail of P90,000 at the Fourth Division for his graft case involving a P92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan, but will remain in jail because the malversation case is nonbailable.
Four of Revilla’s six co-accused—Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers Brice Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza and Arjay Domasig, and accountant Juanito Mendoza of the Bulacan First District Engineering Office—also appeared before the Sandiganbayan for booking procedures on Tuesday. They joined Revilla at the city jail later in the afternoon.
A team from the National Bureau of Investigation took custody of Hernandez and Jaypee Mendoza from the Senate premises on Monday following the issuance of the arrest warrants.
They have been detained in the Senate since last year after being cited for contempt during a blue ribbon committee hearing on irregularities in flood control projects.
DPWH cashier Christina Mae del Rosario Pineda, also among the accused, was arrested at 12.40am on Tuesday in Buguias, Benguet. Pineda was reportedly on her way to Mountain Province before being accosted at a government checkpoint in Barangay Bangao, Buguias.
A sixth co-accused, DPWH engineer Emelita Capistrano Juat, remains at large.
Revilla and the six other accused allegedly conspired to release at least P76 million as payment for the project in Purok V, Barangay Bunsuran in Pandi, Bulacan, which was awarded to a private contractor in March 2025, according to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano.
Revilla was implicated in the flood control controversy after former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo claimed to have delivered P125 million to Revilla’s residence in December 2024, and have another P250 million delivered by his aide before the 2025 elections.
On Dec 10, 2025, and again on Jan 5 this year, Revilla appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) to submit his response to the allegations.
Lawyer Francesca Senga, Revilla’s spokesperson, said they filed an appeal seeking the former senator’s transfer to the Philippine National Police custodial facility in Camp Crame, citing security threats.
“To protect him not for anything but for security reasons for his safety. You know, maybe the courts could take judicial notice that there have been a lot of gang-related activities in certain confinements, that if he would be placed there without the proper protection, he would be placed in dire risk,” Señga said in an interview.
The arraignment and pretrial conference for Revilla and the DPWH officials were set for Jan 23 at 8.30 am.The court will also hear the motion for his transfer that day.
Revilla spent Monday night at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group office in Camp Crame.
He was brought to the Sandiganbayan the following day accompanied by his wife, former actress and now Cavite second district Rep Lani Mercado Revilla, and their son, Cavite first district Rep Jolo Revilla.
Lani declined to be interviewed by the media. Jolo briefly spoke with reporters, expressing sadness over his father’s detention while saying he still respected the court’s action.
In a Facebook post, Jolo said his father’s voluntary surrender was Revilla’s way to confront the accusations directly and affirm his faith in the legal system. He also thanked his father’s supporters, saying his family still believed that “the truth will ultimately prevail.”
In a live video on Facebook on Monday night, Revilla addressed his supporters while on his way to surrender.
“This is saddening. It’s like there’s no due process. But still, I will face this without fear. And I know God won’t abandon me because I did nothing wrong. I only ask for your prayers and give my family strength,” he said.
Malacanang maintained that Revilla was not denied due process.
“What the President wants is that due process must always be guaranteed to everyone. That is probably why the filing of some cases took time, because due process had to be respected,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said at a briefing on Tuesday (Jan 20).
“That will be his defence (that there was no due process) to show the public that he has no involvement. It is just normal for an accused person [to do that],” said Castro, a lawyer.
“[But] if that is his belief, then he also needs to defend or stand by it and present evidence to support it.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, she said, was also “shocked” and “saddened” following the surrender and detention of Revilla, who was one of the 12 senatorial candidates endorsed by the President in the May 2025 mid-term elections.
“The President is saddened because they were together in the Alyansa (Alliance for the New Philippines, a political coalition during the 2025 elections), and Senator Revilla is his friend. Nevertheless, due process must still prevail,” Castro said, citing her conversation with Marcos.
“He was also surprised because Senator Revilla is his political ally. But as the President has said repeatedly … no one will be spared. Even if they are allies, relatives or friends, if an allegation warrants an investigation, then it must be conducted. That is the President’s directive,” she added.
At a briefing at Camp Crame on Tuesday morning, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he urged Revilla, whom he described as his longtime friend, to surrender after the Sandiganbayan issued the arrest warrant.
“He called me yesterday when the electronic warrant came out, and I said, ‘it’s best for you to surrender,’” Remulla said. “If it’s forced, you don’t know what will happen. This way, there will be no untoward incident.”
At Camp Crame, Revilla underwent standard booking procedures, including a medical checkup, fingerprinting and the taking of mug shots.
“He came here himself. It was a voluntary surrender,” Remulla said.
The Philippine National Police had also taken 21 firearms from Revilla — seven rifles and 14 handguns — after cancelling their licences.
“He is no longer entitled to own and operate firearms,” Remulla said, since they posed safety risks should he be arrested.
“He was found to be in good physical shape and capable of undergoing trial,” he said.
“He’s in very good health condition. He is 59 and he is as healthy as a 59-year-old could be, even healthier.’’
Remulla acknowledged his friendship with Revilla since the 1980s, but stressed that “duty calls” and “there are no exceptions to the rule.”
Detention arrangements for Revilla would depend entirely on the court, Remulla said, dispelling suspicions of special treatment.
Revilla, like other inmates, is allotted a daily P100 food allowance and will share a 47-square-metre cell with seven others.
There are at least five bunk beds in the cell, with no air conditioning, he added.
“He will be placed there in a group of cells along with the others involved in flood control [cases],” Jail Chief Inspector Jayrex Joseph Bustinera said. “We don’t have VIP treatment or solitary confinement.”
Four other accused—Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Domasig and Juanito Mendoza—arrived at the Payatas jail at 5.25pm.
The new inmates will first undergo quarantine for seven days as part of standard health protocols.
Only after, Revilla might share a cell with DPWH officials from Mimaropa region, who were detained earlier in connection with an allegedly anomalous flood control project in Oriental Mindoro, according to Bustinera.
He said the Payatas jail holds 3,612 inmates, which constitute the facility’s “general population.”
Revilla, together with the late former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, was previously arrested and jailed in 2014 in connection with the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.
Revilla was accused of plunder and 16 counts of graft after allegedly amassing P224.5 million in Priority Development Assistant Fund kickbacks from businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the biggest amount among the three senators.
After they surrendered, Enrile was detained at PNP General Hospital while Estrada and Revilla were held at the PNP Custodial Center, both in Camp Crame.
Revilla was acquitted of plunder in December 2018 but was ordered to return P124 million in public funds. After his plunder acquittal, Revilla posted bail for his graft cases and was released from the PNP Custodial Center.
He was acquitted of 16 counts of graft in 2021. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
