JANUARY 5, 2026 — Former Senator Bong Revilla is back in the headlines — again. This time, he has filed a counter-affidavit at the Department of Justice to answer a second complaint tied to a flood control project. His camp insists the case is baseless. 

“He filed his counter-affidavit to directly address the baseless allegations raised against him,” said his spokesperson, Atty. Francesca Lourdes Señga. 

She even dismissed the evidence as “incredible and incompetent.”

But the thing is, haven’t we heard this story before? Revilla has long been linked to plunder, graft, and corruption scandals. Remember the pork barrel scam? Now, years later, he’s once more in the thick of accusations — this time allegedly pocketing 25% commissions from flood control projects, according to former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo. 

Revilla denies it, of course. Yet the question lingers: Why does his name keep surfacing in these corruption cases?

Lawyer Mon Esguerra, part of the complaint, pointed out how witness statements were contradictory and based on hearsay. 

“Halimbawa, galing kay Usec. Bernardo. Sinabi kay Alcantara. Si Alcantara sinabi dito, sinabi doon, sinabi doon sa baba, and then pabalik, etc. etc. So pinaniwalaan nila kung anong sabi sa baba pero ang pinagbabasehan lang, pinagbabatayan ‘yung listahan ng projects,” he explained. 

(For example, it came from Usec. Bernardo. He told Alcantara. Alcantara told this one here, told that one there, told those below, and then back again, etc. etc. So they believed whatever those below said, but what they were basing it on, what they relied on, was just the list of projects.)

Señga, meanwhile, claims the complaint was filed only to harass Revilla. 

“’Yung mga ganitong complaint na fina-file na walang batayan ay para bang finile lang para mang-harass o mang-abala ng isang indibidwal,” she said. 

(These kinds of complaints that are filed without basis are as if they were filed merely to harass or inconvenience an individual.)

Rinse and repeat?

But while lawyers argue over evidence, ordinary Filipinos are left wondering — Why do corruption scandals keep circling the same names? 

More importantly, should politicians previously entangled in graft and plunder cases even be allowed to run again, much less hold government positions? 

Bong Revilla was ordered to return ₱124.5 million to the government as civil liability — a sum that remains a point of legal contention and collection efforts. 

So if accountability is still unresolved, why do we keep recycling the same names back into power? Isn’t this the very cycle that erodes public trust and keeps corruption alive in our institutions?

One thing is clear: corruption thrives when accountability drowns.

(Image: Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. | Facebook)