Jinggoy Estrada to Grace Poe: Dasal pa more
Dasal pa more.
Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada has this to say to Senator Grace Poe, who was disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division which cancelled her certificate of candidacy (COC) for failing to reach the residency period for presidential candidates.
In an interview after his bail hearing from plunder over the pork barrel scam at the Sandiganbayan, Estrada said he feels like he and Poe are in the same boat.
While Poe faces a battery of disqualification cases before the Comelec and the Senate Electoral Tribunal, Estrada was detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center as he faces plunder and graft charges for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
“Pareho lang kami. Dasal pa more. Pray pa more,” Estrada said.
Estrada said he believes Poe can surpass the deluge of disqualification cases against her.
“I think she can hurdle it. She has a battery of good lawyers. Siguro naman baka malampasan ni Senator Grace yung kaniyang kinalalagyan ngayon, ang kanyang sitwasyon ngayon,” Estrada said.
He said he has kept in touch with Poe, whom he congratulated when she declared her presidential bid.
Estrada said he is a godfather to Poe’s child. Estrada’s father, deposed former President now Manila mayor Joseph Estrada, is also the bestfriend of Poe’s adoptive father, the late action star Fernando Poe Jr., who ran but lost in the 2004 elections amid alleged poll fraud before his death.
“Kumare ko ‘yun e; inaanak ko ung anak niya, ever since when FPJ was still alive,” Estrada said.
Asked if he believes Poe is a natural-born citizen, Estrada said it is up to the court to decide.
The Comelec Second Division on Tuesday voted 3-0 to cancel Poe’s COC, granting the petition of former Government Service Insurance System lawyer Estrella Elamparo who claimed Poe did not meet the 10-year residency requirement for presidential candidates.
READ: Comelec disqualifies Grace Poe | Grace Poe lacks residency, not qualified to run for president or VP – solon | Poe says Roxas, Binay behind disqualification move
This is because Poe in her COC for senator in 2013 indicated that she had been a resident of the Philippines since November 2006; meaning, she shall have been a resident of the Philippines for nine years and six months only, still short of the 10-year required residency period, come the May 2016 elections.
The Comelec also said Poe, in indicating in her COC for president that she has resided in the Philippines for 10 years and 11 months, tried to mislead the Comelec into believing she fulfilled the required residency.
Poe faces three other petitions for disqualification over her residency and citizenship before the Comelec First Division. Meanwhile, the Senate Electoral Tribunal just upheld its decision that Poe is a natural-born citizen, an issue raised against Poe because she was left a foundling in Jaro, Iloilo. Under the Constitution, a president must be a natural-born citizen.
PDAF scam
Meanwhile, Estrada is accused of receiving P183 million in kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) through alleged ghost projects using the bogus foundations of accused pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
He is detained at the PNP Custodial Center with colleague Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., who is facing the same charges for allegedly accumulating P242 million in kickbacks from Napoles. Revilla’s bail plea was denied by the Sandiganbayan in Dec. 2014, just months after he surrendered June 2014.
After more than a year of hearing, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Thursday concluded the oral summation of evidence in Estrada’s bail hearing. Estrada had been detained since June 2014, after he surrendered to the police and asked for bail from plunder.
READ: Jinggoy Estrada rests bail bid from plunder with CCTV footage | Court to rule on Jinggoy Estrada’s bail plea | Jinggoy: I fulfill two grounds used in granting Enrile bail | Enrile out on bail, says his faith in justness of Judiciary vindicated
The court ordered both parties to submit memoranda summarizing the testimony and evidence within 10 days, before the court submits the bail plea for resolution.
Estrada said he hoped he would be granted bail in time for Christmas.
“It’s been approximately one year and six months that I’ve been incarcerated. I just hope and pray that the court the Sandiganbayan will specifically grant my motion,” Estrada said.
Meanwhile, the 91-year-old senator Juan Ponce Enrile, accused of receiving P172 million kickbacks, was granted bail by the Supreme Court based on humanitarian grounds and because of his political stature.
