The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) condemned the Sandiganbayan for dismissing the plunder case against individuals involved in the PDAF Pork Barrel Scam. Bayan called the decision a “great injustice and a blow to the Filipino people’s fight against corruption.”

The Sandiganbayan Third Division acquitted Juan Ponce Enrile, his aide Atty. Jessica “Gigi” Reyes, and businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles of the P172-million plunder case. The court said that the prosecution failed to prove their crime.

“It undermines years of efforts to hold powerful officials like Enrile, and fixers like Napoles, accountable for robbing the nation of billions meant for the public,” Bayan said.

According to the group, It is outrageous that hundreds of millions of Enrile’s PDAF were plundered through Napoles’ ghost projects yet no one is punished. “The fake members of Napoles’ ghost NGOs may ultimately get the blame,” the group added.

The acquittal sends a very dangerous message. It shows that those in power can evade justice and accountability.

This case is just one of the many crimes committed by Enrile against the Filipino people. He was also involved in, and a key implementor of, the brutal martial law of the US-Marcos dictatorship.