Sandigan verdict on JPE looting case will be released in June

May 18, 2024 | 12:00 AM

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Ten years after the lawsuit was filed, a verdict has been handed down in the plunder case against Presidential Chief Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, former chief of staff Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, and detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles. It will finally be handed down next month.

Sandiganbayan Third Division court clerk Dennis Pluma confirmed in a text message to the Star that the decision to promulgate the judgment in the looting case has been decided.
Enrile, Reyes and Napoles have been scheduled for June 21st.

Pluma added that all parties have been notified of the promulgation date.

Promulgation of the decision was tentatively scheduled for this month, Pluma said, but it had to be postponed to June because the Third Division first resolved pending complaints by prosecutors.

The plunder case, filed by the Office of the Ombudsman on June 5, 2014, stems from Enrile allegedly receiving commissions or kickbacks totaling P172.83 million from Napoles through Reyes in exchange for priority development assistance allocations. is emitting. During his term as a senator from 2004 to 2010, he donated funds (PDAF) or pork barrels to the latter fake non-governmental organization.

Napoles is currently being held at the Mandaluyong City Women’s Correctional Facility on a plunder charge related to the misappropriation of P517 million in Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.’s PDAF.

Enrile was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 2015 on the grounds of “humanitarian considerations” due to his frail health and advanced age.

Meanwhile, Reyes was released from the Taguig City Jail Women’s Dormitory in January 2023 after nearly nine years in detention. This was after the SC granted her habeas corpus petition. In its resolution, the SC said Reyes’ nine-year detention in the pending plunder case amounted to a violation of his right to speedy trial and his right to freedom.

Last year, the Third Division allowed Enrile to challenge the evidence, paving the way for Enrile to seek dismissal of the case without presenting a defense.

Instead, Enrile prayed for the case to be dismissed simply because the evidence presented against him by the Office of the Ombudsman’s Prosecution Committee was insufficient.

However, the Third Division decided to suspend its decision on Enrile’s denial until Enrile’s co-accused, Reyes and Napoles, have finished presenting their evidence in order to “dispose of the case in an orderly manner.” said it should.

“Therefore, any challenge to the evidence submitted to the court by the accused Juan Ponce Enrile shall be resolved or determined after the submission of evidence against the other accused, concurrently or jointly with the main judgment.” Division, October 13, 2023 resolution is read.

However, Napoles waived the evidence and instead filed an objection.

Meanwhile, the Reyes camp proceeded with a defense presentation in late November, which concluded in January of this year.

Enrile, Reyes and Napoles also still face 15 corruption charges each in connection with the pork barrel scam. The case is also being heard in the Third Division.

Enrile was among the first group of legislators to be indicted on charges of plunder before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the so-called Pork Barrel Fund scam under then Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.

The court’s First Division acquitted Revilla of plunder charges in December 2018, but found co-accused Napoles and former aide Richard Kambe, who died in custody in 2021, guilty. did.

The First Department said prosecutors were able to prove that the transactions with Napoles-related foundations were “sham,” but they could not prove that Mr. Revilla had knowledge of or authorized them. Said it has not been done.

On January 19 of this year, the Court’s Fifth Division acquitted Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Mr. Napoles of charges of plunder related to the senator’s alleged misuse of the PDAF.

Nevertheless, the Fifth Division found Estrada guilty of one count of direct bribery and two counts of indirect bribery, while Napoles was found guilty of five counts of public corruption related to direct bribery and two counts of public corruption related to indirect bribery. He was found guilty in the matter. bribery.

Estrada was sentenced to up to 16 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of P3 million. In addition, additional penalties were imposed, including suspension from public office and permanent disqualification from voting.

Estrada had previously vowed to file a motion to reconsider his conviction.