THE Sandiganbayan Second Division ordered the preventive suspension of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for 90 days pending litigation of the graft case filed against him.
“Accordingly, in view of the foregoing, this Court hereby orders the suspension pendente lite of accused Senator Jose ‘Jinggoy’ P. Ejercito Estrada from his present position as Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, and from any other public office which he may now or hereafter be holding for a period of ninety (90) days from receipt of this Resolution, which shall take effect upon the finality of this Resolution,” read the court’s resolution dated June 16.
The preventive suspension order was in connection with the case that the Office of the Ombudsman filed against Estrada and former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan in May.
The Ombudsman has also filed a graft case against former DPWH-National Capital Region officials Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr.
The Ombudsman charged the five with plunder.
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.” Clavano said case records pointed to “an accumulated sum of illicit payouts” totaling P573 million “which were systematically delivered to” Estrada.
“I am determined to face this case and prove that the accusations against me are not true,” Estrada said in Filipino.
Bonoan denied the charges.
Estrada said on Tuesday he will avail himself of all legal remedies under the law.
“Even prior to the issuance of the Sandiganbayan’s Order today, I have already taken clear and deliberate steps to demonstrate that I will not, and will never, use the powers and privileges of my office to shield myself from the allegations being hurled against me,” Estrada said in a statement.
He cited his decision not to be placed under Senate custody and voluntarily surrendered to authorities.
He instructed the Senate secretary to temporarily suspend his salary.
“I did not think twice about these steps because it’s clear to me that personal interests have no place in the midst of the process that aims to determine the truth,” Estrada said in Filipino.
“I don’t want to cast any doubt on my desire to respect the process and prove myself at the proper forum,” he added.
