Napoles acquitted in pork barrel case; convicted to 9 other corruption cases

THE Sandiganbayan acquitted businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles of plunder in the alleged misappropriation of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), commonly referred to as the “pork barrel,” as reported by ABS-CBN’s Mike Navallo.

However, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division convicted her of nine counts of corruption of a public official, while former Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) party-list representative Edgar Valdez also faced nine counts of direct bribery convictions.

Both Napoles and Valdez received prison sentences ranging from two years and four months to up to six years, in addition to a substantial fine of P26,996,700.

The Sandiganbayan’s decision to acquit them of plunder was based on the insufficiency of evidence to show that they had conspired to acquire at least P50 million in PDAF funds through kickbacks or commissions, the ABS-CBN report stated.

Previously, Valdez and four other congressmen had been accused of plunder by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly using Napoles’ non-existent non-governmental organizations to launder their pork barrel funds.

Notably, in May of last year, the Sandiganbayan First Division acquitted Napoles of 16 cases related to the PDAF, citing the prosecution’s failure to establish her guilt beyond reasonable doubt in all sixteen charges of violating Section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

This case drew parallels with the 2021 acquittal of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., who faced similar charges due to insufficient evidence.

The allegations in both cases centered around claims that funds from their PDAF were funneled into fraudulent non-governmental organizations owned by Napoles.