The Sandiganbayan has officially ordered for the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in relation to a case of plunder for supposedly receiving P573 million from various infrastructure projects throughout the country.
The warrant was issued by the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division which is also handling the trials for the 11 counts of graft against Estrada in relation to the multibillion peso pork barrel scam that was first filed in April of 2014.
Aside from the senator, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official Manuel Bonoan, Assistant District Engineer Denryl Caesar Cortuna, and District Engineers Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr. were also summoned through the warrants.
It marked the third time that Estrada has faced a plunder complaint with cases stemming from all the way back to 2001 when he was tagged as a co-conspirator along with former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada for illegal gambling.
The second charge was linked to the corruption connected to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) where he supposedly pocketed P183.79 million in kickbacks through fake non-government organizations.
Under his current charge, Estrada supposedly got commission fees through illegal budget insertions and project allocations under the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for Fiscal Year 2025.
The senator, for his part, has vehemently denied all of the accusations directed against him but has remained open to facing the complaints head on with the hope that the Philippine Justice system would acquit him of his alleged crimes.
Due to the non-bailable nature of a plunder charge based on Republic Act No. 7080, the senator would be detained at a facility according to the commitment order that has yet to be released by the Sandiganbayan.