Opposition Senator Leila de Lima said on Wednesday, July 7 that state probers and lawyers should learn from the setbacks they experienced after Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.’s acquittal from the graft charges that were filed against him in connection with the pork barrel controversy or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

De Lima, who was the Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary at the height of the PDAF controversy, said she sympathizes with the legal team, particularly the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) team, that worked hard to investigate and collect the evidences to ensure a tight case only for Revilla to be cleared of all 16 counts of graft on the ground of “insufficiency of evidence.”

“As a lawyer and a strong advocate of the Bill of Rights, I respect Revilla’s right against double jeopardy,” De Lima said in a statement.

“That said, I can imagine the frustration of those who toiled in the gathering of evidence and case build-up of the PDAF cases, first, by the NBI Special Team on the PDAF scam and, later, by the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office who validated and strengthened the evidence forwarded by the DOJ-NBI,” the senator said.

“As then DOJ Secretary who oversaw the work of the NBI Special Team and shepherded the team members in their arduous task, I share their sentiments. But we have to respect the decision of the Sandiganbayan in conformity with the rule of law,” she said.

“We must now continue to draw lessons from all these setbacks – the bail grants and acquittals, to date, of those responsible for one of the gravest raids on the public coffers,” added the lawmaker.

De Lima said they can at least take comfort with the fact that the mastermind of the ghost projects coursed through the bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) is already behind bars.

“Maybe we can take succor in the fact that Napoles herself, who was already convicted in one of the cases, continues to be held in trial in other PDAF scam cases, for the crimes she committed on behalf of her principals who, although freed from accountability and punishment, will be forever imprisoned in the guilt of their own conscience,” she stressed.

De Lima noted though that the decision of the Sandiganbayan granting Revilla’s demurrer to evidence is a “divided vote” of 3-1 in a division of five of the Sandiganbayan with two justices dissenting on the ponencia.

“I’ll be very interested to see the dissenting opinions. I am not privy to the Sandiganbayan proceedings, hence, would not be in a position to pass judgment on the merits of the main decision,” she noted.

“Preliminarily, however, I note that the granting of Revilla’s demurrer amounts to his acquittal and can no longer be subjected to a motion for reconsideration or an appeal as either remedy would automatically result in putting Revilla in double jeopardy of prosecution,” De Lima said.