Chief Legal Counsel and former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile returns to the Senate as a resource person of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes during the resumption of the hybrid public hearing on legislative measures calling for a review of the provisions of the 1987 Constitution Wednesday, September 21, 2022. ABS-CBN News/file
MANILA — Former Rosales, Pangasinan mayor Ricardo Revita on Tuesday denied receiving agricultural packages from the office of former senator and now Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile.
During the continuation of the Sandiganbayan 3rd Division's hearing of the graft charges against Enrile, the prosecution presented Revita with his judicial affidavit as his direct testimony.
The prosecution and the defense stipulated, among others, that Revita did not know who allegedly forged his signature.
Associate Justice Bernelito Fernandez pressed Revita on the amount of P5 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) which his town supposedly received.
Revita initially said in his judicial affidavit that he could not remember the supposed agricultural package but later said he had double-checked it with his municipal agricultural officer.
“Based on my inquiry, we did not receive any PDAF from the office of Sen. Enrile,” Revita said.
Asked by the court, the prosecution said Revita’s former municipal agricultural officer Robert Espanto would also be presented in the future hearings.
Enrile’s co-accused, his former chief-of-staff Gigi Reyes, did not attend the hearing.
Reyes was released last month after the Supreme Court granted her petition for habeas corpus on the condition that she would attend all her Sandiganbayan hearings.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
ANC, ANC promo, Juan Ponce Enrile, agricultural packages, PDAF, Priority Development Assistance Fund, pork barrel, pork barrel scam, Sandiganbayan, graft