Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., one of three senators involved in a preliminary investigation by the Ombudsman on the PDAF pork barrel scam, is set to go out of the country tonight, sparking speculations that he's fleeing abroad.
The furor was triggered by a text blast that said he was "fleeing the country tonight via PR 312 at 9:25pm prior to the release of his arrest warrant for his role in PDAF scam." The flight manifest did not turn up his name, but some reports said he and his party were booked for March 30.
The senator could not be reached for comment—his mobile phone was shut off—but one of his aides said he was going to the Holy Land while the Senate is on break for the long Holy Week recess, and will definitely be back to face the cases against him.
Revilla’s media relations officer Amy Manzo said in a text message that the senator is going with his family to the Holy Land—one of the favorite sites of Catholic pilgrims during Holy Week—“not to escape but to seek divine intercession on his present predicament, particularly the PDAF” [acronym for Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel of lawmakers].
In a subsequent telephone interview, Manzo told Interaksyon.com that Revilla’s trip had been planned weeks before and that, one month earlier, he had sought—and gotten—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s verbal permission to travel. The senator is not the subject of a Hold-Departure Order, as the case is still under preliminary investigation at the Ombudsman.
Manzo said Revilla is travelling Saturday night with his wife, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla, their children and several lay ministers from the Catholic Church he regularly attends in Cavite. Also with them are Vicky Belo and her boyfriend Hayden Kho.
The group will be back before April 13, because that is Lani’s birthday, which will be celebrated in the Philippines.--Source: InterAksyon