The Sandiganbayan on Friday, September 12, deferred the promulgation of judgment in the graft case against former senator and current Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, his former chief of staff Gigi Reyes, and businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.

According to a report by RH Val Gonzales, the anti-graft court’s Special Third Division moved to reschedule the promulgation after one of its members sought time for further reflection on the evidence and arguments presented.

Lawyer Dennis Pulma explained before the prosecution and the defense counsels that the request for reflection was part of the judicial process, allowing a justice to thoroughly reassess the pieces of evidence and the application of the law before rendering a final and fair decision.

The graft case stems from allegations of misuse of Enrile’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, amounting to over ₱172 million from 2004 to 2010. Prosecutors accused Enrile of funnelling his discretionary funds through fake non-government organizations linked to Napoles, with Reyes allegedly facilitating the transactions.

The 101-year-old Enrile and Napoles attended the scheduled promulgation online, while Reyes and other co-accused appeared in person.

The court reset the promulgation of judgment to October 24 at 8 a.m.

The PDAF was a discretionary fund meant for local projects of lawmakers.

In 2013, it was exposed that billions of pesos were diverted to fake NGOs allegedly set up by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles. Lawmakers were accused of channeling their funds in exchange for kickbacks.

The scandal sparked mass protests, led the Supreme Court to strike down PDAF as unconstitutional, and resulted in plunder and graft charges against several senators, including Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla