MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has junked a motion to reinstate the conviction of Senate President Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.
In a resolution promulgated on Nov 27, 2024, the Sandiganbayan Special Fifth Division explained that there was a lack of merit in the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration, which they filed on September 2.
“The Resolution dated August 22, 2024 hereby stands,” Associate Justice Maria Mendoza-Arcega said in the decision.
“We agree with Estrada insofar as his acquittal can no longer be assailed by the prosecution as this would put him twice in jeopardy,” she added.
The Philippine Law Dictionary explains that double jeopardy is when a person charged with an offense cannot be charged with the same or identical offense once the case has already been terminated through acquittal or conviction.
In a separate opinion penned by Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Mañalac, she said that she dissented from the opinion but ultimately concurred with it, saying that she could not agree with the cause raised by the prosecution in its motion for reconsideration.
The prosecution reasoned that the court “gravely erred” in reversing Estrada’s original ruling.
Estrada was cleared for his alleged involvement in the infamous pork barrel scam. In August, the Sandiganbayan reversed its original decision to convict Estrada of direct and indirect bribery.
“Plainly, the grounds raised by the prosecution, i.e. ‘grave errors,’ ‘wrong and irrelevant considerations’ and ‘gross misapprehension of facts and evidence,’ do not refer to the proper and exceptional grounds that may be invoked against a judgment of acquittal, i.e. grave abuse of discretion and lack of due process,” Corpus-Mañalac wrote.
In a statement, Estrada welcomed the decision but said that he was already anticipating it. He dubbed it as a “vindication.”
“Patunay lamang ito ng matagal ko nang pinanghahawakan – ang kawalan ng basehan ng mga paratang laban sa akin; hindi ko ginamit ang pondo ng bayan para sa pansariling kapakinabangan o para pagtakpan ang anumang gawain na labag sa batas,” Estrada said.
(This is proof of what I have been upholding – that there is no basis to all the accusations against me; I did not use public funds for any activity outside of the law.)
The pork barrel scam first broke in 2013. The National Bureau of Investigation began an investigation of an alleged P10 billion defrauding the government, with “Pork barrel queen” Janel Lim Napoles allegedly the mastermind. Several lawmakers were implicated in the scam, including former senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile.
Both have been cleared of all their pork barrel cases, with Revilla seeking to make a comeback in the Senate. — With reports from Ian Laqui