FILE PHOTO: Juan Ponce Enrile. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said he knew all along that he will not be convicted in his plunder case before the Sandiganbayan.
He made this remark during an ambush interview on Friday, after the Sandiganbayan Special Third Division announced its acquittal verdict on him, his former aide Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, and Janet Napoles, who earned the moniker pork barrel scam queen.
“Pinasasalamatan ko ‘yung mga mahistrado (I thank the magistrates),” said Enrile, who is currently President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s chief legal counsel.
“I knew all along that I’ll be acquitted because I haven’t done anything and I hope the people who filed those cases against us will examine their conscience,” he added.
While Reyes refused to comment on the anti-graft court’s decision, Napoles thanked those who prayed for her.
“God is good. Pinasasalamatan ko lahat ng nagdasal (I thank all people who prayed for me),” Napoles said in a quick interview shortly after the verdict was announced.
READ: Enrile, Reyes, Napoles cleared of plunder in pork barrel case
The Sandiganbayan Special Third Division’s decision that cleared Enrile, Reyes, and Napoles of plunder stemmed from cases connected to alleged misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or popularly known as pork barrel fund, which broke out in 2013. It came after Enrile’s demurrer to evidence motion concerning his plunder case was granted.
The Ombudsman filed plunder complaints against Enrile, Reyes, Ronald Lim, John Raymund de Asis, and Janet Lim Napoles on June 5, 2014. They were accused of amassing P172 million from Enrile’s PDAF from 2004 to 2010.
In 2018, the Sandiganbayan found Napoles guilty of plunder in a separate case involving the misuse of Senator Ramon Revilla Jr.’s pork barrel fund.
Other cases related to the pork barrel scam were likewise filed against Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada — however, both were eventually acquitted.
Enrile, Revilla, and Estrada ran for senator in the 2019 polls, but only Revilla won in that election. Estrada ran again in the 2022 polls and finally triumphed.