Published by: Jean Ashley Lugod
Date Published: October 11, 2024
Time Published: 4:07 PM
Former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile was acquitted of plunder charges from the Supreme Court on Friday, October 4, in a high-profile pork barrel scam case that accused him of misusing public funds alongside his former chief-of-staff Jessica "Gigi" Reyes and businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
The Sandigan Special Third Division voted 4-1 in favor of acquittal, asserting that the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This ruling stemmed from cases related to the misuse of pork barrel funds.
According to Enrile, he thanked the justices for rendering justice for them, "I knew all along that I’ll be acquitted because I have not done anything. We have not done anything in this case and hope that the people who filed these cases against us will examine their conscience."
On the other hand, the plunder cases filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on June 5, 2014, allege that Enrile, through Reyes, received P172.83 million in kickbacks from Napoles for carrying his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to her fraudulent non-government organizations during his senatorial term from 2004 to 2010.
The PDAF scheme was first came to light in 2013, involving the diversion of funds from legislators' pork barrels to fake Non-governmental organizations (NGO) or foundations controlled by Napoles. This was revealed by the Inquirer, which exposed the misuse of fund allocations to lawmakers over more than a decade.
Moreover, the differing reactions from the public and various stakeholders to the verdict underscore the continuing discourse on corruption, governance, and the effectiveness of the legal system in tackling serious allegations.
Meanwhile, the court stated in the acquittal, that in the societies criminal justice system, the overriding consideration is not whether the court doubts the innocence of the accused but whether it entertains a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.
In order to convict an accused, the circumstances of the case must exclude all and every hypothesis consistent with his innocence.
Given the prominence of high-profile cases involving powerful individuals, this situation also raises questions about the future of anti-corruption initiatives in the Philippines.
REFERENCES:
De Villa, K. (2024, October 5). Enrile cleared of plunder in P173 million pork scam case. INQUIRER.net. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/.../enrile-cleared-of...
Marcelo, E. (2024, October 5). Enrile, Reyes, Napoles cleared plunder pork scam. Philstar.com. https://www.philstar.com/.../enrile-reyes-napoles-cleared...
Sayson, C. (2024, October 4). Pdaf plunder case Enrile, Reyes, Napoles cleared of all charges. Philstar.com. https://philnews.ph/.../pdaf-plunder-case-enrile-reyes...
San Juan, J. (2024, October 4). Sandiganbayan acquits JPE, Reyes, Napoles in P173m Pdaf plunder. Businessmirror.com.ph. https://businessmirror.com.ph/.../sandiganbayan-acquits...
Flores, D. (2024, October 4). Sandiganbayan acquits Enrile, Others in P173m pork barrel scam. Philstar. https://www.philstar.com/.../sandiganbayan-acquits-enrile...
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