Senator Jinggoy Estrada questioned the process undertaken by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman in the filing of plunder and graft charges against him before the Sandiganbayan over alleged irregularities in flood control projects, as he personally posted bail following the issuance of an arrest warrant.

Estrada said he posted bail before the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division while maintaining his innocence and denying the allegations against him.

“I am personally posting bail before the Sandiganbayan in relation to the arrest warrant issued by its Second Division. Posting bail is a legal remedy available to me under our justice system, and I intend to avail myself of every lawful means to defend myself and clear my name,” Estrada said in a statement issued Friday. 

“Mariin kong itinatanggi ang mga paratang laban sa akin. Ang mga ito ay walang batayan at walang bahid ng katotohanan (I strongly deny the allegations against me. They are baseless and completely devoid of truth),” he added.

Estrada also said he was denied the opportunity to file a motion for reconsideration or respond fully to the resolutions issued by the DOJ and the Ombudsman before the cases were filed in court.

“Hindi ako nabigyan ng pagkakataong makita at mapag-aralan nang maayos ang mga resolusyon ng DOJ at Ombudsman upang makapaghain ng kaukulang paliwanag o Motion for Reconsideration bago isinampa ang kaso sa Sandiganbayan (I was not given a chance to see and carefully study the resolution made by the DOJ and Ombudsman so that I can file sufficient explanation or motion for reconsideration before the filing of the case in Sandiganbayan),” Estrada said in an earlier statement.

“Ang ganitong labis at hindi makatuwirang proseso ay may seryosong implikasyon sa aking right to due process (This such excessive and unreasonable process has serious implications on my right to due process),” he added.

The Office of the Ombudsman formally filed plunder, graft, and other criminal complaints against Estrada before the Sandiganbayan following a recommendation from the DOJ.

The DOJ earlier said its investigation uncovered “an interconnected network of public officers who abused their official designations to manipulate project specifications, clear budgets, and rig public bidding workflows.”

Estrada said his lawyers are preparing legal remedies to challenge what he described as irregularities in the handling of the case.

“We will exhaust all legal remedies. Sa kasalukuyan, inihahanda ng aking mga abogado ang mga kaukulang hakbang upang mapakita ang mga iregularidad sa naging proseso, gayundin ang mga ebidensyang hindi nabigyan ng sapat na timbang at konsiderasyon (At present, my lawyers are preparing the appropriate legal steps to expose the irregularities in the process, as well as the evidence that was not given sufficient weight and consideration),” he said.

He cited a letter from the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO), which stated that there was no record showing he introduced insertions into the 2025 national budget.

“Ito ay isang mahalagang ebidensya na tahasang pinapabulaanan ang lahat ng alegasyon laban sa akin, subalit sadyang isinantabi (This is an important piece of evidence that directly refutes all the allegations against me, yet it was deliberately disregarded),” he added.

Estrada also questioned the speed by which the case moved following the change in Senate leadership earlier this month.

“Kapansin-pansin din na, mula nang magpalit ng liderato sa Senado, naging mabilis ang pag-usad ng mga kasong kinasasangkutan ng ilang miyembro ng majority bloc (It is also noticeable that since the change in Senate leadership, cases involving some members of the majority bloc have moved swiftly),” he said.

He noted that the Ombudsman filed the case barely a week after the DOJ issued its resolution recommending his indictment, which he said raised questions on whether an independent fact-finding investigation was conducted.

“Barely a week after the DOJ issued its Resolution in my case, the Ombudsman immediately filed a case without conducting its own thorough and independent fact-finding investigation,” Estrada said.

“This is despite the Ombudsman’s earlier statement that there would be an ‘independent review and resolution on the merits of the case,’” he added.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, however, defended the filing of the charges, saying the complaints were based on a “rigorous and independent evaluation” of the investigation conducted by a DOJ-National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) task force.

Clavano also said the Ombudsman considered the LBRMO certification cited by Estrada but maintained that the document did not necessarily clear the senator.

He said the certification did not cover all stages of the budget process “wherein insertions may be made in a layered method.”

The case stemmed from the Senate inquiry into alleged corruption in flood control projects, during which former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo testified that he personally delivered kickbacks to Estrada at the Artiaga Building in San Juan City.

Estrada has denied the allegations and said he was submitting himself to the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan out of respect for the legal process.

“I respect the rule of law and our judicial institutions, and this is precisely why I am posting bail and personally submitting myself to the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan,” he said.

“Umaasa ako sa patas na pagtrato, due process, at pagiging walang kinikilingan sa pagdinig ng kasong ito. Nagtitiwala ako na sa huli, mananaig ang hustisya at ang katotohanan,” he added.

This is the third plunder case filed against Estrada. 

He was previously acquitted in separate plunder cases involving alleged jueteng payoffs and the pork barrel scam, with the latest acquittal handed down in 2024.