Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada can now heave a sigh of relief after the Sandiganbayan acquitted him of bribery and indirect bribery over the multibillion pork barrel scam orchestrated by Janet Lim Napoles.
“I am deeply relieved of the Sandiganbayan Special Fifth Division’s decision finding merit in my motion for reconsideration and acquitting me of the direct and indirect bribery charges,” said Estrada on Friday.
The senator stressed this ruling reaffirms the innocence he has consistently maintained throughout the ordeal. He has been struggling for a decade to prove that he was not guilty of the baseless accusations hurled against him.
The Sandiganbayan, Estrada said, had proven his earlier assertion that he did not receive any bribe, whether “direct or indirect.” He reiterated that he had never used any public funds for his own interest or to cover up for any act contrary to prevailing laws.
“And above all, I think not to destroy the trust given to me by the people,” said Estrada as he thanked the Sandiganbayan, which ruled in favor of his motion for reconsideration.
Despite his acquittal from all the charges in connection with pork barrel, Estrada believes the fight is not yet over as he wants to absolutely clear his name. He said the ordeal he had gone through was not easy, but he trusted our justice system.
The anti-graft court cleared him of one count of direct bribery and two counts of indirect bribery due to lack of evidence.
The cases stemmed from the alleged misuse of P183 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations.
Based on the SB Resolution dated August 22, the anti-graft court said that aside from the P1 million deposited to Estrada’s Bank of Commerce’s account on September 18, 2008, reflected in prosecution witness Benhur Luy’s “9/18/2008” Summary of Rebates, the prosecution did not present other evidence which proved that the money was sent to Estrada.
