Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday secured vindication in a 10-year plunder case connected with the pork barrel scam. 

The Sandiganbayan Special Third Division said the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt that the 100-year-old politician conspired with his former aide Gigi Reyes and businesswoman Janet Napoles to amass P172.83 million in kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

"I knew all along that I will be acquitted because we have not done anything in this case. And I hope the people who filed those cases against us will examine their conscience," Enrile told reporters.

The case ran for ten years, with a notably slow progress in 2019 to 2020 due to multiple motions filed by both defense and prosecution, aside from pandemic-related delays which hampered court proceedings.

Enrile, now 100, is the last among three senators to be cleared in the PDAF scam, after Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada's graft cases were junked in 2018, and 2024 respectively.

Bong Revilla cleared of plunder in pork barrel scam case
TIMELINE: What happened to the cases of senators charged in pork barrel scam?

Here are the key events that happened before Enrile's acquittal. 

June 6, 2014 - The Office of the Ombudsman, led by Conchita Carpio filed plunder and graft charges against Napoles, Enrile, and Reyes.

July 3, 2014 - Enrile was arrested and detained for allegedly funneling his PDAF to bogus non-government organizations ran by Napoles.

July 14, 2014 - Enrile, 90 years old at the time of the arrest, was allowed by The Supreme Court to be detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital.

Chief Legal Counsel and former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile returns to the Senate as a resource person on Sept. 21, 2022. Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate PRIB/File

August 22, 2014 - Enrile filed motion for bail, citing his poor health.

September 2014 - Enrile was suspended from the Senate for 90 days.

August 18, 2015 - The Supreme Court granted Enrile’s petition for bail due to humanitarian reasons. He posted P1.45 million in bail.

July 2016 - Enrile announced his retirement from public service. 

January 2017 - Sandiganbayan junked Enrile's bid to dismiss the plunder case.

May 2019 - Enrile lost his bid to return to the Senate.

June 2022 - Enrile is appointed Presidential Legal Counsel by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile reviews documnets before the start of the sectoral meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.  KJ Rosales, PPA Pool/File

February 2023 - The Supreme Court junked the graft charges against Enrile.

February 2024 - Supreme Court denies Enrile's petition to dismiss his plunder charges, and directed the Sandiganbayan to proceed with the trial of the case. Enrile also celebrated his 100th birthday in Malacanang.

October 2024 - Enrile, Reyes, and Napoles were acquitted.