Court Issues Hold-Departure Order Against Revilla, Estrada, 13 Others

The Sandiganbayan’s First Division followed suit and issued a hold-departure order (HDO) against Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. on Tuesday.

This came a day after the court’s Fifth Division issued a hold-departure order (HDO) against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and 13 others accused with plunder and graft charges in connection with the alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

The 13 others joining Revilla and Estrada in the HDO list are Pauline Labayen, Mario Relampagos, Rosario Nuñez, Lalaine Paule, Marilou Bare, Allan Javellana, Rhodora Mendoza, Maria Julie Villaralvo-Johnson, Victor Roman Cacal, Maria Ninez Guañizo, Romulo Relevo, John Raymund De Asis, and principal accused Janet Lim-Napoles.

On Monday night, Estrada shrugged off the issuance of the hold-departure order (HDO) against him. “I have no plans of leaving. It doesn’t matter,” Estrada curtly said in a phone interview with the Inquirer. “No problem with me,” he said.

Estrada has previously declared that he would voluntarily surrender once the warrant for his arrest was issued. He had ruled out any out-of-the-country travels at this time, lest he be accused of trying to evade prosecution.

Meanwhile, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile has so far not been issued a hold-departure order by the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division, which is handling the other PDAF-related cases.