MANILA, PHILIPPINES – In connection with the well-known pork barrel scam, Senator Jinggoy Estrada and businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles were acquitted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Friday, January 19.
Estrada was found guilty of a single charge of direct bribery and two charges of indirect bribery. This results in a sentence of 8 to 9 years for the direct bribery charge and 2 to 3 years for the indirect bribery charges. Additionally, he was mandated to pay a fine of P3 million.
Estrada, who was present during the case promulgation, is also temporarily disqualified from exercising the right to vote and is suspended from holding public office.
Meanwhile, Napoles, who attended the court promulgation online, was convicted on five counts of corruption of a public official and another two counts for similar violations.
She was ordered to pay a fine of P29.62 M and was sentenced to serve jail time of eight to nine years per count. Furthermore, Napoles was ordered to be censured and was asked to indemnify the government for P262 million.
The embezzlement case involving Estrada, Napoles, and others originated from Estrada’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as pork barrel, being diverted to fraudulent non-government organizations (NGOs) controlled by Napoles.
Estrada faced charges for allegedly receiving P55.79 million kickbacks in a scheme.
There was dispute over whether he was the primary culprit, but he denied these allegations. He was also accused of amassing illegal wealth from the scheme. Despite attempts to dismiss the case, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division rejected the motion since it was proven he approved the transfer of his PDAF to Napoles’ NGOs.
Estrada, along with two other senators, was implicated in the pork barrel scam. Only Revilla was acquitted, and Enrile was released on bail due to his age.
Revilla was the only one who won in the 2019 Senate elections, while Estrada secured a seat in 2022.
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