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Group Hits 'Selective Justice' as Revilla Gets Bail, Ladlad Stays
Ramon Revilla Jr. posted ₱1M bail six months after detention; political prisoner Vicente Ladlad, 77, remains jailed after eight years without conviction, rights group says.
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A support group for political prisoners accused the Philippine justice system of applying a "double standard" after former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. was granted bail while elderly detainees like 77-year-old Vicente "Vic" Ladlad remain behind bars without conviction.
The group KAPATID issued the statement after the Sandiganbayan Third Division granted Revilla provisional liberty on July 31 upon posting a ₱1-million cash bond. Revilla had been detained just six months earlier over a non-bailable malversation case involving an alleged ₱92.8-million ghost flood control project in Bulacan.
The 2-1 ruling drew a strongly worded dissent from Associate Justice Karl Miranda, who said evidence indicated Revilla was an "indispensable member of the alleged conspiracy." Miranda questioned why Revilla should be released while his lower-ranking co-accused remained in detention.
KAPATID contrasted Revilla's release with Ladlad's situation. Ladlad, a jailed activist and peace consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, has spent nearly eight years in pretrial detention after his arrest in November 2018 on illegal firearms and explosives charges. He claims the charges were fabricated. The group said he was previously acquitted in earlier politically motivated cases from the martial law period.