Despite his plunder acquittal, Revilla faced separate graft charges and was ordered by the court to return P124 million to the state. Justices Efren dela Cruz and Bayani Jacinto dissented against the decision of Justices Edgardo Caldona, Rafael Lagos and Geraldine Econg, who authored the resolution clearing Revilla of involvement in the pork barrel scam, which was exposed in 2013. Under the scheme, up to P10 billion from lawmakers’ pork barrel had been funneled to ghost projects in exchange for massive kickbacks. He was not motivated by public service when he endorsed accused Napoles’ NGOs, but prompted by the receipt of kickbacks or commissions that he was to receive from accused Napoles in accordance with their agreement,” Jacinto wrote in his opinion. NGOs endorsedHe also noted that Revilla endorsed Napoles’ NGOs, despite being unqualified, to implement his PDAF projects 11 times.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 07, 2021 21:33 UTC