Philstar.com
October 24, 2025 | 11:47am
MANILA, Philippines — Anti-graft court Sandiganbayan cleared former senator Juan Ponce enrile, his aide Gigi Reyes and businesswoman Janet Napoles in a remaining graft case connected to the pork barrel scam.
The three faced charges of siphoning P172 million in congressional Priority Development Assistance Funds when Enrile was a senator between 2004 and 2010 through bogus non-government organizations that Janet Napoles ran.
In the latest decision, Sandiganbayan Third Division Justice Ronald Moreno said that the prosecution failed to prove the accusations against the now-101-year-old Enrile “beyond reasonable doubt,” according to several media reports.
Enrile, Reyes and Napoles were similarly acquitted of plunder complaints in a Third Division ruling in October 2024.
The cases were first filed in 2013, after reports broke out of a scheme that funnelled congressional discretionary funding through implementing organizations from where officials purportedly received kickbacks.
Two of Enrile’s co-accused in plunder cases, former senator Bong Revills and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada had also been acquitted. They ran and returned as senators years after being released from detention. Enrile, meanwhile, was appointed chief presidential counsel under the Duterte administration.
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This is a developing report. Please check back for an updated version.
