Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.’s speech at the Senate last Monday was supposed to be a valedictory address because of his impending arrest on corruption charges filed by the Ombudsman against him along with Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada.
The good senator may well have quoted from a script given to him by a studio but it’s not a movie despite the show of emotion by his wife and allies in the Senate. Okay, he had a video shown but it doesn’t qualify as a movie.
The year-long pork barrel saga produced two scripts or lists of alleged recipients of tax money showered by controversial “businesswoman” Janet Lim-Napoles and her erstwhile agent Benhur Luy and while there are some inconsistencies, Revilla, Enrile and Estrada were among the top ranked beneficiaries.
It was good timing for Cebuano civil society groups which plans to hold their anti-pork barrel rally today, Philippine Independence Day, as public sentiment over the pork barrel controversy continues to rise and fall based on how “explosive” the disclosures/revelations are made by Napoles and company.
Based on what side of the political fence one sits, Revilla’s speech is but one of many litanies made by the accused and it won’t be the last as the courts and the Ombudsman gear up to prosecute the cases against them.
If the courts have yet to penalize the suspects accused in the Ampatuan massacre which happened nearly five years ago, the public shouldn’t hold its breath. These cases are lodged against lawmakers who benefited from the pork barrel, including some former lawmakers now serving in President Aquino’s cabinet.
For now, what does matter for the principal accused, namely Revillla, Enrile and Estrada, is public perception of them.
They don’t want to be the bad guys.
It is this negative public perception, of being perceived as a criminal, that convinced socialite Ruby Tuason to leave her shelter in the US to stand as witness in the government’s prosecution of the lawmakers embroiled in the pork barrel corruption.
But Tuason made the brave choice of facing her shameful role in the plunder and trying to make up for it by giving useful testimony.
What Revilla offered is melodrama.