MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) Former first lady Imelda Marcos has been acquitted by a local court of 32 counts of dollar-salting amounting to $33 billion.

Marcos clasped her hands after hearing the decision handed down by Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. of Branch 26 of the Manila regional trial court Monday.

In a 44-page decision, Pampilo said the government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), failed to prove that Mrs. Marcos, her late husband president Ferdinand Marcos, and late crony Roberto Benedicto conspired not to report dollar earnings from foreign bank accounts.

"The witnesses presented by the prosecution have no authority to identify the documentary evidence that they have presented in court," Pampilo said.

The case has been pending for more than 15 years as Pampilo blamed the delay to the prosecution.

He noted that late last year alone, hearings on the case have been rescheduled eight times upon request by the prosecution.

Marcos, who was clad in a green terno, declined to issue a statement and was to have held a press conference at the Bayview Park Hotel.

Former solicitor-general Francisco Chavez, who filed the case against Mrs. Marcos in 1991, alleged that she violated Central Bank rules and regulations.