MANILA — The Department of Justice has denied the opposition of former senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. against the inclusion of additional respondents in his plunder complaint involving alleged anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan.

Lawyer Carlos Villaruz, who represented Revilla during the preliminary investigation, confirmed the development following a hearing at the DOJ.

“Nag oppose kami pero… dineny (we opposed but it was denied),” he said in an ambush interview.

“Basically para complete daw ‘yung prosecution nung investigation (basically so that the prosecution of the complaint will be complete),” he added.

The National Bureau of Investigation had earlier sought to include several former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers—Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan, Ruel Umali, and Arturo Gonzales Jr.—as additional respondents in the complaint.

Revilla’s camp opposed the move.

In the original complaint, Revilla’s co-respondents included former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, former district engineer Henry Alcantara, and former regional director Gerard Opulencia, who have been identified as state witnesses.

Villaruz said the newly added respondents have already submitted their counter-affidavits.

“They submitted their counter-affidavits and subscribed to it, and then kami naman (we) the other respondents, including former Senator Bong Revilla, were given until March 30 to file the necessary manifestation and motion,” he said.

After the submission of pleadings, the case may be deemed submitted for resolution.

Revilla earlier filed his counter-affidavit on February 12 in response to the allegations.

Justice spokesperson Polo Martinez said the complaint involves multiple flood control projects in Bulacan allegedly linked to irregularities.

“We know plunder kasi, of course, is a grave crime. It covers a combination of series of overt acts where the acquisition of ill-gotten wealth amounted to at least P50 million,” he said in a separate ambush interview.

“Ang (the) plunder complaints po, necessarily, hindi lang po ‘yan isang (it’s not just one) project. It’s multiple projects. But what we can say is they’re all located in Bulacan,” he added.