Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, now Chief Legal Counsel to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has been acquitted of plunder charges, along with his former aide Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
The Sandiganbayan Special Third Division handed down the acquittal in relation to the improper use of pork barrel funds, a case that came to light in 2013.
The court granted Enrile’s demurrer to evidence, effectively dismissing the plunder case against him.
The Ombudsman had filed plunder complaints against Enrile, Reyes, Ronald Lim, John Raymund de Asis, and Napoles on June 5, 2014.
The accused were alleged to have amassed P172 million from Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2004 to 2010.
In 2018, Napoles was found guilty of plunder in a separate case involving the misuse of Senator Ramon Revilla Jr.’s pork barrel funds.
Other cases linked to the pork barrel scam were filed against Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada, but both were acquitted.
Enrile, Revilla, and Estrada ran for the Senate in the 2019 elections, but only Revilla won.
Estrada ran again in 2022 and secured a Senate seat.