Sandiganbayan reverses Jinggoy Estrada's bribery conviction

The Sandiganbayan has reversed its decision and cleared Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada of one count of direct bribery and two counts of indirect bribery due to lack of evidence.

The cases were in connection with the alleged misuse of P183 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations.

Based on the 26-page Resolution dated August 22 provided by Estrada’s office, the anti-graft court said that aside from the P1 million deposited to Estrada’s Bank of Commerce’s account back on September 18, 2008 reflected in prosecution witness Benhur Luy's "9/18/2008" Summary of Rebates, the prosecution did not present other evidence which proved that money was sent to Estrada.

The summary of rebates indicated Luy sending P5 million to the accused and then-Estrada’s aide Pauline Labayen. 

Luy served as the financial officer of non-government organizations owned by Janet Napoles. 

Estrada in January was acquitted of plunder charges in connection with the alleged PDAF misuse. He was found guilty of bribery and he appealed the conviction.

The prosecution alleged that Napoles-owned NGOs received the PDAF allocations to implement government projects but were instead pocketed by Napoles and lawmakers.

"Luy's records mention only Labayen as the recipient of the amount involved, and he did not give any testimony to the effect that Estrada actually received the same or portion thereof. Here, the prosecution evidence is remiss in showing that there is a clear correlation between the deposit made to Estrada's Bank of Commerce account and the amount received by Labayen," the Sandiganbayan said.

"Since there is no proof which shows that Estrada received the amount of P1 million from Labayen, it is doubtful whether he voluntarily acceded to the said transaction," the Sandiganbayan said.

The anti-graft court also said that the prosecution was not able to explain the discrepancy in the amounts, such as why only P1 million was given to Estrada by Labayen when in fact Luy said that P5 million was given to Labayen for Estrada.

"Lamentably, the prosecution provided no concrete or specific counter-argument to the matters raised by Estrada in this instance," the Sandiganbayan said.

The anti-graft court said the delivery of the subject money to Labayen could not be construed as a bribe received by Estrada.

It said the prosecution failed to establish the connection between the cash received by Labayen from Janet Napoles and the deposit made to Estrada's account.

“While offenses may be proven not only through direct proof but also by circumstantial evidence, the single circumstance in this instance, i.e., identical dates, is not sufficient to sustain a conviction,” the Sandiganabayan said. —NB, GMA Integrated News