ASEANEWS HEADLINE- COURTS & CRIME: CORRUPTION | MANILA: Estrada yields as court warrant on plunder out
TURNING HIMSELF IN Sen. Jinggoy Estrada leaves the Senate on Monday afternoon, accompanied by officers of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group serving the Sandiganbayan’s arrest warrant against him for the nonbailable charge of plunder. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
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Jinggoy surrenders to PNP-CIDG over arrest warrant on plunder case
Senator Jinggoy Estrada in a press briefing on Monday, June 1, declared that he will voluntarily surrender to the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), after the Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant against him for a non-bailable case of plunder.
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MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Monday issued an arrest warrant against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for charges of plunder and graft.
Estrada eventually surrendered to agents of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) after holding a press conference at the Senate.
Aside from Estrada, also ordered arrested were former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) chief Manuel Bonoan and former engineering officials of the agency’s National Capital Region office, assistant district engineer Denryl Caesar Cortuna and district engineers Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr.
The court order came even after Estrada’s camp on Monday filed an omnibus motion in a bid to halt the issuance of the plunder arrest warrant that would put him and his coaccused behind bars.
READ: WATCH: Tension flares between Cayetano, Remulla during Jinggoy arrest
Plunder is a nonbailable case and carries a penalty of life imprisonment. Under the law, bail may only be granted if the court finds that the evidence of guilt is not strong.
Following the issuance of the arrest warrant, Estrada held a press conference where he said he would surrender to authorities instead of seeking sanctuary in the Senate.
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SENATOR Jinggoy Estrada is overcome with emotion as colleagues Dante Marcoleta and Imee Marcos accompany him out of the Senate building to meet an arresting party serving a Sandiganbayan warrant for plunder.PHOTOGRAPH by aram lascano for DAILY TRIBUNE
Instagram: @tribunephl
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READ: ‘A boycott for Jinggoy’: Senate minority pans majority’s absence
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He also said he would not yield to threats and pressure and would instead face the charges against him “head-on.”
“I will not be intimidated. I will not be pressured into surrendering my independence of judgment,” he maintained.
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“Above all, I will not place myself under Senate custody. I will not use the Senate as a shield against the allegations being leveled against me. I am prepared to defend myself in court and will not hide behind this institution to avoid the process. I will defend myself to the end to prove that the allegations against me are baseless,” he said.
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Alleged political pressure
Estrada, however, also claimed—without disclosing any names—that in exchange for the dismissal of his cases, he was approached several times to leave the 13-man majority bloc led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who took over in a Senate coup three weeks ago on May 11.
“But I did not accept,” Estrada said. “My conviction to remain with my colleagues in the independent majority bloc prevailed.”
He said he also gave instructions to the Senate secretary to put his salary on hold.
“This is my personal decision to show the Filipino people that I have no intention of benefiting from public funds while I clear my name,” he said.
Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, in response to Estrada’s claim, said “Accountability and politics should never be mixed.”
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“If there are people who try to blur the line between the two, they should also be held accountable,” he said. “No one can make decisions on behalf of the Ombudsman when it comes to pending cases, because doing so would also be considered a form of corruption.”
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‘Respect the institution’
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla accompanied PNP-CIDG agents who had arrived earlier at the Senate to arrest Estrada.
Although Estrada had expressed his intent to surrender, Cayetano argued with Remulla that Estrada should not be arrested inside the Senate building.
“We agreed that this would be handled outside, not inside the Senate. Even during Cory’s time, this was never done,” said Cayetano, referring to the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.
“Respect the institution, this is not about Jinggoy,” he said, as he also cited Senate President Jovito Salonga’s actions in behalf of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile when the latter was charged with rebellion complex.
After being taken into custody, Estrada was committed to the New Quezon City jail in Barangay Payatas, according to the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division’s clerk of court.
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Estrada and Cortuna arrived at the court for the return of warrant.
The clerk of court said a commitment order was issued against Estrada, Cortuna, Bulusan and Gonzales.
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‘Nonsense’ charges
The cases against Estrada arose from the charges the Ombudsman filed against him in the Sandiganbayan for allegedly receiving up to P573 million in kickbacks from certain flood control project allocations in 2025.
Estrada has strongly denied the charges, calling these “nonsense.”
He said the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office told the Ombudsman it does not have any documents or records showing that Estrada made any insertions in the 2025 national budget.
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“This important information was even acknowledged by former Senate blue ribbon committee chairperson [Sen.] Panfilo Lacson as significant evidence that contradicts the allegations leveled against me. So how can the Office of the Ombudsman file a plunder case against me when I am not even alleged to be part of, or the mastermind of, the supposed scheme? I have nothing to do with that,” said Estrada.
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Earlier graft warrant
On Friday, Estrada’s camp had filed pleadings at the antigraft court that sought the consolidation of his cases and the deferment of the issuance of any arrest warrant.
The Sandiganbayan’s Second Division handles the graft case against Estrada and Bonoan, while the Fifth Division handles the plunder and graft case against Estrada, Bonoan, Cortuna, Bulusan and Gonzales.
On Friday, the Sandiganbayan Second Division issued an arrest warrant against Estrada and Bonoan for their bailable graft case. Estrada and Bonoan were not detained after they each posted P90,000 in bail.
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However, the arrest warrant for plunder was not issued at that time against the respondents after Estrada’s lawyer Noel Ostrea filed an urgent motion to withdraw the issuance in both the Second and Fifth Divisions.
Geraldine Faith Econg, the Sandiganbayan’s presiding justice and chair of the Second Division, told reporters they had already issued the warrant before the motion was filed by Estrada’s camp, hence the release of the Second Division’s arrest warrant for graft.
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The arraignment of Estrada and Bonoan over their graft case will be held before the Second Division on June 2, and their arraignment together with the three other ex-DPWH officials will be held before the Fifth Division on June 4. —WITH REPORTS FROM ZACARIAN SARAO, LUISA CABATO, AND DEXTER CABALZA
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