Bong Revilla was arrested or surrendered to authorities and now is locked up inside a “custodial center” at Camp Crame. Based on photos, the room in which he is staying now looks fairly nice, but certainly is not up to par with the lavish lifestyle the senator has been used to living.
Revilla, along with his fellow senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, may be guilty of the crime of plunder. And Janet Napoles may be at the center, or the mastermind, of this billions-of-pesos thievery that has victimized the Filipino people. But I believe that in a scam this big, it cannot be that they are the only ones involved. Indeed, other officials have been ordered arrested and have posted bail, claiming innocence like Revilla, Estrada, Enrile and Napoles.
That said, I do believe President Aquino is targeting only the opposition and those he considers threats to his hold on power over the Philippines. Indeed I’m glad that thieves who have stolen public money are being locked up, except that similar thieves aligned with the Aquino administration have not been charged in court and are not as zealously prosecuted.
—MIKE LOWREY,
det.mike.lowrey@gmail.com