NOT A DAY SPENT IN JAIL The 97-year-old widow of deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and mother of the country’s current president has remained out on bail while appealing her conviction before the Sandiganbayan in 2018. File photo taken onSept. 11, 2025, at a church in Batac, Ilocos Norte. —INQUIRER photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has overturned the 2018 conviction of former first lady Imelda Marcos on seven counts of graft, saying the prosecution failed to establish her guilt beyond reasonable doubt after finding that the key testimony and documentary evidence used against her were “inadmissible and lacked sufficient probative weight.”
In a decision dated June 10 and made public on Wednesday, the high tribunal’s First Division acquitted the 97-year-old mother of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of violating Section 3(h) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The 50-page decision reversed the Sandiganbayan’s November 2018 judgment that found Marcos guilty on seven counts of graft and imposed combined prison terms of up to 77 years. She has not spent a day behind bars as she remained out on bail while pursuing her appeal.
