Jinggoy convicted of bribery, cleared of ‘pork’ plunder

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has found Sen. Jinggoy Estrada guilty of one count of direct bribery and two counts of indirect bribery over his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam – placing him in a position where he may eventually be booted out of office, pay fines and be imprisoned.

The court, however, acquitted Estrada and so-called pork barrel queen Janet Napoles of plunder over the misuse of the senator’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel fund.

Estrada, who was detained for three years for the plunder and graft cases over the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam, was meted a total of up to 16 years in prison for the bribery conviction and was ordered to pay P3 million.

The conviction also involves the accessory penalties of temporary absolute disqualification and perpetual special disqualification from the right to vote.

Napoles, meanwhile, was found guilty of five and two counts of corruption of public officials under the Revised Penal Code’s (RPC) provisions on direct bribery and indirect bribery, respectively, for which she was sentenced to a total of up to 62 years in prison.

She was also found guilty of two counts of the same charge in relation to the RPC’s provisions on qualified bribery. Napoles was also ordered to pay a fine of P29.625 million.

Aside from these, Napoles was also ordered to indemnify the government over P262 million with 6 percent interest per annum from the finality of the decision.

In finding them not guilty of plunder, the anti-graft court said state prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Estrada and Napoles “personally gained or benefited or had used the monies allegedly taken from the alleged transactions … in the amount of P50 million or more,” or the threshold for an illegally amassed fund to be covered by the plunder law.

While the court did not find the evidence “sufficient to establish beyond reasonable doubt the crime of plunder,” it explained that they may still be convicted of a lesser offense if prosecutors prove such a case under the variance doctrine.

Thus, the court decided to convict the pair instead of bribery and corruption of public