The Philippines' anti-graft court has acquitted former senator Bong Revilla of plunder - the first ever verdict handed down in dozens of cases related to the P10 billion pork barrel scam.

Voting 3-2, the Sandiganbayan First Division cleared Revilla of plunder, citing the prosecution's "failure" to prove that he received P224-million in kickbacks from the pork barrel scam.

The anti-graft court, however, convicted Revilla's former chief of staff Richard Cambe and businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, who owns the non-government organizations used in the plunder scheme.

Revilla spent 4 years in detention because of the plunder charges. Despite his acquittal, he still faces 16 counts of graft over the so-called "pork barrel" scam. ANC Dateline Philippines, December 7, 2018