Estrada hit with plunder, graft complaints P573 million

The Office of the Ombudsman has formally filed complaints against Senator Jinggoy Estrada and other Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials at the Sandiganbayan as he allegedly received P573 million in funds from various flood control projects.

Estrada along with his supposed cohorts were said to have committed unlawful acts which constitute charges of plunder, graft, bribery, and a violation of Article 212 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) to be sought against them.

Aside from the senator, former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan along with the late Undersecretary Catalina “Cathy" Cabral and officials Roberto Bernardo, Henry Alcantara, Gerard Opulencia were cited as respondents in the complaints.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano noted that the charges against Cabral were dismissed due to her passing last 19 December 2025 while all of Bernardo, Alcantara, Opulencia were excluded from raps due to their current status as state witnesses under the Department of Justice.

With regards to the details of the case, Clavano said that the cases were taken from “illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations” from the infrastructure portfolio of the DPWH during the year of 2025.

“Our evaluation shows that substantial public funds were deliberately funneled into designated infrastructure projects in exchange for predetermined commission fees or kickbacks,” he said during a press conference.

“Case records point to an accumulated sum of illicit payouts amounting to an aggregate sum of over P573 million which were systematically delivered to the principal respondent, Senator Jinggoy Estrada,” he added.

Clavano explained that they also took into consideration the certificate issued by the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) concerning its finding that Estrada had not initiated budget insertions.

However, he noted that the document does not fully capture the entire budgetary process as he asserted that insertions could be done through a “layered method.”

The Assistant Ombudsman further expressed that their case was not established through shallow evidence, noting that it had obtained numerous testimonies that craft a tangible image of how the unlawful scheme was carried out.

“I want to emphasize this very clearly–our case is built on solid, immovable evidence. These state witnesses have provided comprehensive, cross-corroborated sworn statements that map out the execution of this scheme from its inception down to the logistics of the illicit payouts,” he noted.

With the complaints now at the anti-graft court, the case would be raffled and designated to one out of its seven divisions which will ultimately determine whether the case has probable cause.

In the event that their findings do find probable cause, Clavano said that they anticipate arrest warrants to be issued to the principal respondents of the case.

As part of the case, he also mentioned that the Ombudsman had recommended for the case to have no bail and that it will pursue Hold Departure Orders against Estrada and his supposed co-conspirators.