The Sandiganbayan Second Division ordered for the preventive suspension of Senator Jinggoy Estrada over his case of graft linked to the multibillion peso flood control scandal.
In a resolution dated 16 June, the anti-graft court noted that Estrada would be barred from assuming his duties as a senator and any other position in public office for a period of 90 days.
“This court hereby orders the suspension pendente lite of accused Senator Jose “Jinggoy” P. Ejercito Estrada from his present position as Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, and from any other public office which he may now or hereafter,” the order read.
Aside from his case of graft at the Second Division, the senator is also facing charges for a separate case of graft and plunder at the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division over similar allegations.
Based on the complaint of the Office of the Ombudsman, Estrada was allegedly the recipient of around P573 million that were taken from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) infrastructure portfolio under Fiscal Year 2025.
The information was reportedly gathered from the investigation of the NBI-DOJ Public Works and Bid-Rigging Task Force. Estrada was also among the senators that were heavily implicated in the Senate Blue Ribbon hearings into the flood control mess chaired by Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.
In both cases handed to the anti-graft court, former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan was tagged as a co-conspirator of the crime, serving his position from June of 2022 until his eventual resignation in September 2025.
Aside from the high-ranking officials, Public Works engineers Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan, and Arturo Gonzales Jr. were also named in the plunder complaint.
Notably, it was the third time that Estrada was charged with plunder, being acquitted for the same in 2007 and 2024.
The senator along with his supposed cohorts are currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail - Male Dormitory in Payatas, the same facility that former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla is held in.
