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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.

• Currency trading scam victimized 3,000 people--NBI report
• Imelda Marcos a no-show at court hearing
• No suspects yet in Batangas mayor's slay--police

• Sharing scheme eyed in waste program
• SC watch: Text BKS to 2948
• Groups fear landgrabbing in agri project
• DOE hits 97% village electrification
• Meralco rates lower by 8c/kWh this month
• Robust US-RP ties to remain under Obama
• PNP to clear general when money is back
• Pangandamans give side on brawl to NBI
• Virus in pigs may pose human risk
• PNP insists on rules of engagement
• DND to review troops in other agencies
• Marcelino ‘principled,’ ‘incorruptible’
• ‘Highly improper,’ says lawyer
• CA justice inhibits from drug case
• Ex-solon might be freed Jan.--jail chief
• Arroyo wants speedy DoJ bribery probe
• Prosecutor faces contempt in drug case
• PNP euros expected back by end of month
• Opposition convention pushed for 2010
• CA assigns justice to drug case