MANILA - Former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., who has been detained for two years, will not likely face trial over his cases in the pork barrel scam anytime soon.

This, after the Sandiganbayan deferred the pre-trial for Revilla's cases due to the unfinished marking of documentary exhibits.

The pre-trial is the phase where the proposed stipulations are laid out, trial dates are scheduled, and the list of witnesses and documentary evidence is presented.

The pre-trial of the plunder charge was moved to October 27, 2016, and his graft charges to February 17, 2017. It was only after a pre-trial that the court can start the trial proper.

This is the fifth time that the pre-trial was cancelled because of the unfinished marking of documentary exhibits.

The pre-trial was initially set on May 21, 2015, but was deferred due to the voluminous number of documents to be checked. The proceeding pre-trial schedules on September 30, 2015, February 4, 2016 and March 7, 2016 were also cancelled for the same reason.

Only the camp of Janet Lim Napoles has finished the required procedure before the pre-trial set on June 30, 2016.

However, Revilla's lawyer, Atty. Reody Anthony Balisi, and Atty. Richard Cambe, who represents himself, have asked for additional days to compare evidence and to secure documents.

The lawyers of the other accused have also yet to start marking their documentary evidence. Each of them was given two days to complete the pre-marking, stipulation and comparison of evidence.

The anti-graft court noted that some of the defense lawyers do not appear in the scheduled pre-conferences.

"The court cannot wait forever. You are the accused, you should desire the speedy disposition of the case," Justice Efren dela Cruz told the lawyers.

In order to expedite the case, the Sandiganbayan ordered that the lawyers will have waived their right if they fail to attend their scheduled pre-conferences.

Revilla has been detained at the Philippine National Police Detention Center since 2014 for plunder. He was accused of pocketing P224 million in public funds after diverting his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to a spurious non-government organization which failed to deliver the intended assistance to beneficiaries.

Last month, the Sandiganbayan also deferred the pre-trial for former senator Jinggoy Estrada's plunder and graft cases due to the unfinished marking of evidence.