Senate comeback bid will get a boost, if case is dismissed – Jinggoy

MANILA, Philippines  – Former senator Jinggoy Estrada, who is seeking a Senate comeback via the May midterm elections,  believes that the dismissal of his plunder case before next month’s elections can boost his bid.

“Definitely it will push chances of winning if my case will be dismissed, especially before…if the resolution of the Sandiganbayan will be released before election time,” Estrada said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel on Monday.

“There’s no basis, there’s no evidence against me,” Estrada replied when asked why he thinks the case against him will be dismissed.

“The status of the case right now is that, the court already granted our motion to file a leave of court. Then when the court granted our motion, the next step my lawyers did was to file a demurrer of evidence,” he said.

READ: Jinggoy seeks to have plunder case thrown out 

READ: Sandiganbayan: Jinggoy, Napoles can seek outright dismissal of plunder raps 

“They gave us 10 days to file a demurrer of evidence, I think 10 days, before the prosecution to comment. Then after which the Sandiganbayan, the court, will have to decide, to rule on the issue,” he added.

Estrada is accused of plunder, after allegedly pocketing part of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) when he allocated P183 million to the bogus non-government organizations of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.

He spent three years in detention at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, before he was granted bail.

Likewise charged with plunder in connection with the PDAF misuse issue were fellow former senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile,  who, like Estrada are also aiming to return to the Senate.

Revilla was acquitted in December 2018, while Enrile’s trial is ongoing before the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division.

The bail petition of the 95 year-old Enrile was granted on humanitarian grounds in 2015.  /gsg