Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is facing a new charge of plunder, his third,
and another case for graft over his alleged involvement in the
multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
The Office of the
Ombudsman charged Estrada, along with former Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan, before the Sandiganbayan
over the alleged P573 million worth of kickbacks from various flood
control projects.
Others named in the charges were former
DPWH-National Capital Region assistant district engineer Denryl Caesar
Cortuna as well as district engineers Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales
Jr.
In a statement issued on Thursday, May 28, Estrada denied the
allegations, citing a Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring
Office letter, which states that he did not insert any project for
funding in the 2025 General Appropriations Act that became the source of
flood control kickbacks.
“We will exhaust all legal remedies. My
lawyers are preparing the necessary steps to show the irregularities in
the process and the pieces of evidence that were not weighed and
considered,” Estrada said.
He claimed that the cases were filed
against him after he aligned himself with the new majority, led by
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano.
“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 worthy to note that, since the change in Senate
leadership, the resolution of the cases against some members of the
majority bloc were sped up),” Estrada said.
“As I have said
before, if this is the price that I have to pay for standing by my
principles and for what I believe in, then so be it. I will continue to
seek the truth and defend my name in the right forum and according to
law,” he added.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he has
coordinated with Estrada about the impending arrest and laid out options
for a surrender.
“I talked to him already. I gave him options and he said he will think about it,” Remulla said in a message on Viber.
Remulla
did not give details on his conversation with Estrada and whether they
apply the same template for former senator Ramon Revilla Jr.
The Sandiganbayan raffled to the Second and Fifth Divisions the graft cases and the plunder case to the Fifth Division.
Assistant
Ombudsman Mico Clavano said anti-graft prosecutors have recommended no
bail in the cases, adding that they would seek a hold departure order
against the respondents to “preserve the integrity of the case in
court.”
Hold-order issued
A precautionary
hold departure order was issued against Estrada and Bonoan, which barred
them from leaving the country as early as February.
The
Department of Justice (DOJ) had earlier recommended the filing of cases
against Estrada and Bonoan for plunder, graft, direct bribery and
receiving gifts by public officers, under Article 210 of the Revised
Penal Code, and corruption of public officials under Article 212.
The
recommendation came after a preliminary investigation on the criminal
complaint lodged by the Public Works and Bid-Rigging Task Force of the
National Bureau of Investigation and DOJ.
Clavano said the
ombudsman only chose to pursue plunder and graft against the two “after a
rigorous and independent evaluation” of the DOJ investigation.
He
noted that the cases involve “an intricate mechanism involving illegal
budgetary insertions and project allocations” in the DPWH budget in
2025.
“Our evaluation shows that substantial public funds were
deliberately funneled into designated infrastructure projects in
exchange for predetermined commission fees or kickbacks,” Clavano said
in a press briefing.
He alleged that kickbacks amounting to P573 million were delivered to Estrada.
Clavano
said other individuals originally named in the complaint were former
DPWH undersecretaries Cathy Cabral and Roberto Bernardo, former DPWH-NCR
director Gerard Opulencia and former Bulacan First District engineer
Henry Alcantara.
They have since been dropped from the case, with Cabral being deceased, and the other three being declared as state witnesses.
“Our
case is built on solid, immovable evidence. These state witnesses have
provided comprehensive, cross-corroborated sworn statements that map out
the execution of this scheme from its inception down to the logistics
of the illicit payouts,” Clavano said.
“We have one shot to get
these cases right. The Filipino people need to see justice. This office
is here to make sure we deliver just that,” he added.
The Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippine (CBCP) urged on Thursday the
institutions mandated to uphold justice and accountability to
relentlessly pursue all cases.
Kidapawan Bishop Colin Bagaforo,
CBCP Inter-Religious Leaders’ Council for National Transformation lead
convenor, said the rule of law loses its meaning when exemptions are
made for the powerful, the influential or the politically connected.
“Accountability
must apply to all regardless of political affiliation, social status,
popularity or position in government. Public office is a public trust.
Those entrusted with greater power, authority and influence carry an
even higher moral and legal responsibility before the people,” Bagaforo
said. – With Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Bella Cariaso, Emmanuel Tupas