SEN. Jinggoy Estrada on Friday posted a P90,000 bail at the Sandiganbayan after being issued an arrest warrant along with former Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed the case last Thursday, together with another case in which Estrada and Bonoan were charged with three others: former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-National Capital Region officials Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr.
All five were named respondents in the plunder case, which was raffled off to the Fifth Division.
A respondent charged with plunder cannot automatically post bail, but if a court orders his arrest, he could file a petition to let him post bail.
According to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, the cases “stem from an intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for Fiscal Year 2025.”
Clavano said kickbacks worth over P573 million were systematically delivered to Estrada.
Former DPWH assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez had accused Estrada of maneuvering P355 million worth of insertions in the 2023 national budget in exchange for a 30-percent commission. Estrada has denied the allegation.
While acknowledging that the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office certified there were no records that Estrada had made the budget insertions, the certificate “does not capture all stages of the budgetary process, wherein insertions may be made in a layered method,” he said.
Bonoan denied the charges in an interview at the House of Representatives, where he was a resource person in the investigation conducted by the House Infrastructure Committee on flood control projects.
On Friday, Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters at Camp Karingal in Quezon City that he personally called Estrada on Thursday to discuss the possible implementation of the Sandiganbayan arrest order.
“I told him [his choices are] either surrender or arrest. He told me he’ll think about it,” Remulla said.
He said Estrada mentioned he needed knee replacement surgery. Remulla said it was all up to the anti-graft court. “Our job is to process his arrest and submit him to the Sandiganbayan,” he said.
Remulla assured that Estrada would not receive special treatment if taken into custody, citing the detention of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla and other accused individuals facing similar cases.
“They’re all there at the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) [in Quezon City]. There’s no special treatment there,” he said.
Estrada faced corruption-related charges in 2001 and 2014.
The case marked the latest development in the government’s expanding crackdown on corruption involving flood control projects, which has already implicated several politicians, contractors and public works officials.
On Friday, Sen. Imee Marcos described the cases filed against several majority bloc senators as “political persecution,” claiming the move was part of an effort by administration allies to weaken the Senate majority and consolidate political power.
Marcos questioned the timing of the charges and criticized what she described as attempts by minority bloc senators to prevent detained or absent lawmakers from participating in Senate proceedings through online means.
“The timing of these cases and the attempt by the minority, who are openly aligned with the administration, to block online participation by senators make it very clear that the cases against Jinggoy and other majority senators are not about justice or accountability,” Marcos said.
“It is about the desperation of the administration to hold on to power,” she said.
The senator laid out several points defending the participation of senators facing legal cases or detention, particularly in light of ongoing Senate proceedings, including impeachment-related functions.
Marcos said lawmakers facing charges are still presumed innocent under the Constitution.
“Imprisonment at this point is not punishment since they are presumed innocent,” she said.
She argued that preventing senators from participating in Senate functions would disenfranchise millions of voters who elected them into office.
The senator further noted that, except for Ronald dela Rosa, the senators involved are not fugitives and have complied with court orders.
“They did not run away. They complied with whatever court order. Their physical absence was involuntary,” she said.
Marcos also recalled how members of the minority bloc defended the rights of former senator Leila de Lima to continue participating in legislative functions while detained.
