DETAINED Sen. Jinggoy Estrada declined to enter a plea Thursday during his arraignment for plunder before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, prompting the court to enter a not guilty plea for him.
The senator is facing graft and plunder charges over allegations that he received P573.75 million in kickbacks from infrastructure and flood control projects in Metro Manila, Bulacan and Occidental Mindoro included in the 2025 national budget.
His lawyer, Laurence Arroyo, said Estrada waived the reading of the information and maintained their petition seeking bail for the plunder charge.
Estrada arrived in court on crutches after his left knee snapped last week.
When asked about his condition after the arraignment, he said: “I'm OK. According to my doctor, it’s up to me if I want the surgery on my left knee.”
Also charged in the case are former South Manila District Engineering Office chief Manny Bulusan, former Quezon City 1st District Engineering Office chief Arturo Gonzales Jr. and former North Manila DEO assistant chief Denryl Caesar Cortuna.
Bulusan, Gonzales and Cortuna had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The preliminary conference for Estrada’s case is set for Sept. 11.
35 corruption cases
The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has filed 35 cases in connection with corruption investigations, including those involving alleged anomalies in flood control projects, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla told senators on Thursday.
Remulla said 31 of the cases are pending before the Sandiganbayan, while four are before regional trial courts.
He said 166 cases are undergoing preliminary investigation, while the Ombudsman is conducting 107 lifestyle checks as part of its broader anti-corruption drive.
Remulla gave the update during the Senate Committee on Finance’s deliberations on the Ombudsman’s proposed 2027 budget, amid growing public demand for accountability over alleged massive irregularities in government flood control projects.
Sen. JV Ejercito, chairman of the Finance Committee, pressed Remulla for developments in the investigations, noting that the public is eager to see those responsible for the alleged anomalies brought to justice.
"With flooding very anomalous right now, we all know for a fact that the biggest corruption scandal in history happened last year,” Remulla said, acknowledging public calls for swift action.
He said, however, that the Ombudsman must ensure that cases are sufficiently supported by evidence before filing them in court.
"We can’t just file a case if it’s not airtight,” Remulla said.
He said the Ombudsman was also refining its lifestyle-check procedures, which could lead to more forfeiture cases involving unlawfully acquired properties.
"I think that is the most important,” Remulla said, adding that successful forfeiture cases could encourage the public to provide information about suspected corruption to the Ombudsman.
More investigators sought
Remulla said the Ombudsman needs to hire more personnel, particularly investigators, to cope with the volume and complexity of corruption cases.
He said the agency is streamlining its recruitment process to speed up the hiring of investigators who can conduct probes, prepare cases, and assist in their prosecution.
The Ombudsman has already hired 60 young lawyers, Remulla said, while another batch of 40 is expected to be hired by November.
He said the additional personnel would help accelerate the investigation, resolution and prosecution of cases.
Senators back confidential funds
Several senators also expressed support for the Ombudsman’s request for P51.468 million in confidential funds for 2027, saying the allocation would strengthen its ability to gather information and build corruption cases.
Remulla said the agency needs the confidential funds because it has become more aggressive in conducting investigations and obtaining information and other resources necessary to establish evidence.
The Ombudsman had originally sought about P148 million in confidential funds, but the Department of Budget and Management reduced the request to P51.468 million.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said the amount was modest compared with the scale of corruption cases the Ombudsman is expected to investigate.
He said legitimate information and evidence are essential not only to file cases but also to strengthen them and secure convictions.
"It's not just filing cases but winning cases,” Gatchalian said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente Sotto III also backed the request, saying the amount was small compared with the Ombudsman’s workload.
"That's even a drop in the bucket if you want to assess what the Ombudsman is doing,” Sotto said.
The Senate Finance Committee subsequently submitted the Ombudsman's proposed P7.23 billion for plenary consideration.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday pushed for a higher 2027 budget and expanded fiscal autonomy for the Office of the Ombudsman similar to the Judiciary Fiscal Autonomy Act, while proposing that a portion of funds returned to the national government in corruption cases, including the flood control scandal, be earmarked to augment the agency's budget.
"If the national government or Treasury gains from restitution, part of that could be earmarked to boost the Ombudsman's budget," Lacson said.
"Maybe 10-20 percent of whatever amount is restituted should be earmarked and it's covered by law, so no one can touch that part of the restituted amount," he added.
Lacson also called for a higher 2027 budget for the Office of the Ombudsman, including its law enforcement service, so it can better fulfill its mandate to fight corruption.
He said that while anti-corruption agencies abroad like Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption receive 0.38 percent of Hong Kong's overall budget, the Ombudsman is getting a measly 0.1 percent in the National Expenditure Program.
