Former senator Leila de Lima made this assessment of the Estrada acquittal although she admitted that there is also a likelihood for the SC to uphold the ruling of the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division or even overturn the anti-graft courts decision finding him guilty of three counts of bribery.

In a statement sent to the Senate media, De Lima said the SC may come into the picture if Estrada decides to file a petition for a review of the guilty verdict handed down by the Sandiganbayan on the bribery charges against him.

“If Sen. Jinggoy appeals this conviction, there is still a chance that the SC will modify this judgment to either an acquittal, on one hand, or a plunder conviction, on the other,” she said.

“I am sure that is what his lawyers are already studyhing at this very moment. Because once they appeal to the SC, the judgment is opened wide for modifications, including a conviction for plunder, without violating the rule on double jeopardy,” De Lima pointed out.

She lamented that notwithstanding the strong evidence presented by government to pin down Estrada on the plunder case, the Sandiganbayan ruled for his acquittal.

Also acquitted in the decision read Friday (January 19) by the court was businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, allegedly the mastermind in the multi-billion peso pork barrel fraud that linked Estrada ang several other senators and congressmen in 2013.

“I am curious to find out what element or elements of the crime of plunder the Sandiganbayan deemed wanting and/or why evidence was deemed insufficient to support conviction for that c rime,” said De Lima, who was the justice secretary when the pork barrel scam cases were filed.

She added: “I believe that we had a strong case against Sen. Jinggoy when the DOJ-NBI Special Task Froce filed the plunder complaint against him with the Ombudsman.”

Nevertheless, De Lima said she “accepts the decision of the Sandiganbayan limiting the conviction to bribery and indirect bribery” against the incumbent senator.