A non-bailable plunder charge tied to alleged kickbacks worth more than P573 million now hangs over Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who declared on Monday, June 1, that he would face the case in court rather than retreat into the protection of the chamber he sits in.
Speaking to reporters hours after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ordered his arrest, Estrada drew a sharp line on how he intends to proceed.
“I will not seek Senate custody. Hindi ko gagamitin ang Senado bilang panangga laban sa mga alegasyon sa akin. Nakahanda akong ipagtanggol ang aking sarili sa hukuman at hindi ako magtatago sa likod ng institusyon na ito upang umiwas sa proseso,” he said.
He maintained that the accusations against him have no merit and pledged to contest them through to a conclusion. “Ipagtatanggol ko hanggang sa huli ang aking sarili para patunayan na walang batayan ang mga paratang sa akin. Kalokohan ang lahat ng ito,” he added.
The senator was not the only official named in Monday’s order. The same warrant covered former Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan along with engineers Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan, and Arturo Gonzales Jr., all linked to alleged anomalies in government flood control projects.
According to the Office of the Ombudsman, which brought the charges on May 28, public infrastructure funds were funneled toward designated projects in return for commissions or kickbacks, with the proceeds said to have reached Estrada. Investigators described the arrangement as an intricate mechanism built on illegal budget insertions.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla told the media that Estrada was expected to turn himself in at Camp Crame in Quezon City, and that agents of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group had been tasked to serve the warrant. CIDG personnel were spotted both at the Senate and at the anti-graft court following the order.
The plunder matter is the heavier of the cases facing the senator. Because the offense carries no bail when the evidence of guilt is judged strong, a conviction or detention would mark a far graver outcome than the graft charge he already addressed days earlier, when the Sandiganbayan Second Division issued a separate warrant on May 29 and he secured temporary liberty by posting P90,000 bail.
Estrada is contending with one count of plunder and two counts of graft in connection with the flood control controversy, and his counsel, Atty. Noel Ostrea, said the defense had filed motions to quash the cases after receiving the resolutions from the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice that laid out the basis for the charges.
