Akbayan solon blasts acquittal of Enrile, others in plunder case

SANDIGANBAYAN/JULY 4,2014
Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, the former chief aide of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, surrenders at the Sandiganbayan for plunder charges in connection with the pork barrel scam. INQUIRER PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines – Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña called the acquittal of former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile a “major rollback in anti-corruption efforts.”

On Friday, the Sandiganbayan Special Third Division cleared Enrile, his former aide Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, and businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles from charges of plunder in the decade-old cases related to the misuse of pork barrel funds.

READ: Enrile, Reyes, Napoles cleared of plunder in pork barrel case

Cedeña said in a statement, “It sends a disheartening message that those who have plundered our nation’s resources can go unpunished.”

READ: Akbayan party list back in Congress, occupies seat vacated by An Waray

He added that the ruling signaled a “comeback for plunderers” and urged the government to appeal the decision.

The Akbayan representative has been in Congress since just last September 25, after the seat was vacated by the An Waray party-list, whose registration had been canceled by the Commission on Elections.