Daily Tribune
Senator Jinggoy Estrada posted bail on Friday, 29 May, after the Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant over graft charges stemming from alleged kickbacks from anomalous Department of Public Works and Highways flood control projects. Estrada had previously faced plunder charges (and was acquitted) over the jueteng scandal and pork barrel scam.
Photograph by Analy Labor for DAILY TRIBUNE
Senator Jinggoy Estrada on Monday petitioned the Sandiganbayan to quash, or remand to the Office of the Ombudsman, the plunder and graft charges filed against him in connection with alleged kickbacks from flood control projects, citing procedural issues.
The pleading marks the third motion filed by the lawmaker before the anti-graft court after it ordered his arrest last week over the alleged P573 million in kickbacks he supposedly received from flood control projects. He remains at liberty after posting P90,000 bail for the graft charge, although detention on the plunder case still looms since the offense is non-bailable.
Estrada’s lawyers filed an urgent omnibus motion ad cautelam, asking the court to dismiss or declare the case void and prohibit the refiling of the same information. They also sought the suspension of proceedings and the return of the case to the Ombudsman for reinvestigation, citing legal concerns over what they described as the rushed filing of the cases before the Sandiganbayan.
“These are not mere technicalities. I firmly believe that I am entitled to avail myself of the remedies available under the law, including the filing of a motion for reconsideration, especially considering that I received a copy of the Ombudsman Resolution on the plunder case only on Friday evening,” Estrada said.
“It is only fair and just that I be afforded the opportunity to fully exercise these legal remedies before any coercive measures are taken against me,” he added.
Last week, Estrada’s camp filed separate pleadings seeking the consolidation of the cases and the deferment of the issuance of any arrest warrant.
Estrada accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Ombudsman of violating his right to due process, pointing to what he described as the swift elevation of the cases to the Sandiganbayan, which allegedly deprived him of the opportunity to review and appeal the information.
The senator from San Juan also raised concerns over what he called “procedural irregularities” in the filing of the cases, noting that the Ombudsman brought the matter before the Sandiganbayan on Thursday, only a week after the DOJ issued its resolution.
He further alleged that the Ombudsman failed to conduct an independent fact-finding process and instead relied on the DOJ resolution, which recommended the filing of plunder, graft and bribery charges against him and several former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials.
Estrada likewise accused investigators of disregarding findings by the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office, which he said could support his claim that he did not receive kickbacks from flood control projects.
In Monday’s pleading, Estrada urged the Sandiganbayan to resolve his three pending motions before issuing a warrant of arrest for the plunder case.
“This is not an attempt to evade legal responsibility, but rather to assert my right to due process and the opportunity to present and have my side heard in a proper manner,” he said.
He also maintained that he remains committed to facing the charges and “proving that the allegations against me are untrue.”
Estrada is accused of looting public funds intended for several flood control projects in Bulacan, one of the country’s most flood-prone provinces.
During a House of Representatives inquiry into alleged flood control anomalies in September last year, former DPWH-Bulacan engineer Brice Hernandez claimed that Estrada received at least P350 million in kickbacks as the “proponent” of several projects. Hernandez alleged that the amount represented a 30-percent “SOP,” or cut, purportedly agreed upon by the lawmaker and senior DPWH officials.
Apart from the new charges, Estrada has a pending graft case before the Sandiganbayan involving the alleged misuse of P183 million in pork barrel funds. In 2024, he was acquitted of plunder but convicted of the lesser offenses of direct and indirect bribery. He is also facing 11 counts of graft.
In 2001, Estrada was implicated in a separate plunder case involving his father, former president Joseph Estrada, over alleged illegal jueteng operations. He was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan in 2007.
