Charles Teves
Netizens were outraged when the Sandiganbayan acquitted Janet Lim-Napoles of 16 charges of graft relating to the alleged misuse of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.’s pork barrel fund.
However, she was found guilty of misuse of a former lawmaker’s discretionary fund.
These decisions were announced separately by the anti-graft court’s first and second divisions and made public on May 22.
Napoles is currently serving multiple prison sentences for her involvement in the pork barrel scam. This includes a life sentence for plunder handed down by the Sandiganbayan in 2018.
The court found Napoles not guilty of all 16 charges of violating Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the Revilla case, as the prosecution failed to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case alleges that Revilla allocated P224 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund to fake non-government organizations (NGOs) owned by Janet Lim-Napoles.
Revilla was one of several lawmakers who reportedly gave discretionary funds to fake projects in exchange for kickbacks.
The scam was brought to light when Napoles’ cousin and bagman, Benhur Luy, spoke out about the scheme after he was supposedly detained by Napoles.
Netizens were disgusted by the acquittal.
PUTANGINA HAYOP. https://t.co/wP8wDYP0Wt
— Niccolò 💕💗🌸 (@niccolocosme) May 22, 2023
Acquitted si Napoles sa ibang kaso nya.
Pero di na mababalik ang mga perang ninakaw sa kaban ng bayan.
Me nawala sa ating lahat. Pero wala kayong mga kibo.
Kay De Lima walang ninakaw sa inyo, perong tuwa tuwa kayo na nakakulong sya sa gawa gawang kaso?— Choy🇵🇭🇭🇷🇪🇺 (@KaTindig2029) May 22, 2023
the guy in Malacañang: I'm bored today, let's acquit Napoles and keep detaining De Lima https://t.co/kQXIoRtNrG
— 🍰 (@eyaabear) May 23, 2023
Ay! Grabe.
— SuperGirlBunny_TheChamp (@SuperGirlDChamp) May 22, 2023
I'm not surprised at all. Surely, someone is still supporting her despite all of the charges and evidence against her. https://t.co/0fNtV5QfRl
— JAEL. (@isponjkola) May 23, 2023
The Inquirer initially reported on the scandal in 2013, leading to several investigations and the indictment of then-Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Revilla for plunder and several counts of graft.
The First Division cleared Napoles of the graft charges primarily because they were the same acts related to the plunder charges for which Napoles and Revilla’s chief of staff, Richard Cambe, were convicted in 2018. Both cases were heard by the First Division, which cleared Revilla of all charges in 2021.
