Imelda Marcos, the widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, scored a resounding court victory Monday after she was acquitted of 32 counts of dollar salting. Although the 32 cases were just a fraction of the total 901 cases the Marcoses still face, the acquittal was especially sweet for the former first lady since it was handed down even if the prosecution succeeded in establishing the existence of dollar accounts linked to Marcos foundations in Switzerland. Rendering his verdict 17 years after the cases were filed, Judge Silvino Pampilo of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 26 said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Pampilo said despite the documents presented by the prosecution attesting to the existence of the Marcos bank accounts in Swiss Bank Corp. in Geneva, Switzerland, the prosecution's witnesses were not authorized to testify on the documents. Thus, the evidence on the dollar accounts of the Marcos foundations could not be accepted as evidence, he said. Likewise, Pampilo said the prosecution “failed to prove that there was conspiracy between, and among the accused in the case.” __
