MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada opposed the prosecution's motion seeking the permission of the Sandiganbayan Second Division to file a motion to amend the charge sheet accusing him and former Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan of graft.
The Office of the Ombudsman wants Bonoan as a state witness in connection with the flood control mess.
Estrada's camp argued that discharging him would affect the senator's defense.
The motion, heard by the court on Tuesday, was submitted for resolution.
On May 28, the Ombudsman filed a graft case against Estrada and Bonoan and another graft case against them and former DPWH-National Capital Region officials Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan, and Arturo Gonzales Jr. It also charged these five individuals with plunder.
In a press briefing conducted after the cases were filed, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the cases stemmed from "an intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for" fiscal year 2025.
"Our evaluation shows that substantial public funds were deliberately funneled into designated infrastructure projects in exchange for predetermined commission fees or kickbacks. Case records point to an accumulated sum of illicit payouts amounting to an aggregate sum of over PhP 573 Million which were systematically delivered to the principal respondent, Senator Jinggoy Estrada", Clavano said.
Bonoan has denied links to alleged corruption.
"Hindi po. I can shout [it]. Hindi po ako involved" (No. I can shout [it]. I am not involved)", he said in a media interview at the House of Representatives in September 2025 when he attended as a resource person in the investigation conducted by the House infrastructure committee on flood control projects.
Estrada has said in Filipino in a statement, "I am determined to face this case and prove that the accusations against me are not true."
The senator is under a 90-day preventive suspension, which started on June 22, 2026, pending litigation of the graft case filed against only him and Bonoan.
