A warrant for the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was handed down Friday by the Sandiganbayan, tied to allegations that he benefited from anomalous flood control projects.
Alongside the senator, the anti-graft court directed the same action against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan and a group of one-time Metro Manila engineering officials. Hold departure orders accompanied each warrant. Among those named as respondents were district-level engineers from the National Capital Region, identified as Denryl Cortuna, Arturo Gonzalez, Jr., and Manny Bulusan.
The case marks the third occasion on which Estrada has confronted plunder accusations. He had earlier been absolved of plunder linked to the Priority Development Assistance Fund, and although a court at one point found him guilty of bribery and indirect bribery, that conviction was overturned when evidence in the PDAF matter was deemed insufficient. Separate graft proceedings connected to his PDAF allocations remain pending.
Estrada’s entanglement in the present controversy traces to claims advanced by Brice Hernandez, who previously served as DPWH-Bulacan district engineer. Hernandez asserted that the senator pocketed kickbacks drawn from flood control spending — an accusation Estrada has rejected.
Speaking a day before the warrant came down, the senator vowed to “exhaust all legal remedies.” He pointed to correspondence from the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO), which according to him showed no documentation of any budget insertion on his part, a finding he said had been disregarded. Estrada further contended that the prosecution of lawmakers belonging to the majority bloc appeared to gain momentum following a shift in the chamber’s leadership.
“As I have said before, if this is the price that I have to pay for standing by my principles and for what I believe in, then so be it. Ipagpapatuloy ko ang paghahanap ng katotohanan at ang pagtatanggol sa aking pangalan sa tamang forum at alinsunod sa batas,” he said.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano addressed the LBRMO certification directly, granting that his office had taken note of it while cautioning that such a record does not reflect the entirety of how budgets are assembled. He maintained that insertions “may be made in a layered method.”
