Sen. Jinggoy Estrada: No charges anytime soon. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Amid speculations that he and Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. will soon be indicted over the pork barrel scam, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Thursday saw his receipt of copies of witness affidavits from the Office of the Ombudsman as a sign that the antigraft body would not be filing any charges against them anytime soon.
After all, he said he had been given five days to respond to the affidavits after receiving them on Thursday.
“Tomorrow might be too soon,” he said Thursday of Revilla’s earlier claim that the Ombudsman would rule on their motions for reconsideration on the plunder complaint Friday.
Estrada on Wednesday petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify the Ombudsman’s ruling finding probable cause to file plunder charges against him.
He argued that the Ombudsman had rejected his request for copies of the affidavits of witnesses Ruby Tuason and Dennis Cunanan, who both testified on the scam in the Senate investigation.
Warning to De Lima
Revilla, meanwhile, warned Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales against abbreviating the process to indict them.
Like Estrada, he claimed that his motion to be furnished copies of the sworn statements of Cunanan and witnesses Gondelina Amata and Alexis Sevidal was also denied by the Ombudsman.
Revilla said he was worried about the reports that De Lima and Morales would skip certain legal proceedings and file charges against him.
“If they do that, our legal system will now be open to more abuses by the ones who are supposed to be entrusted to uphold the law, like the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman. Otherwise, there’s no law to follow,” he said in a statement.
Estrada couldn’t say if his receipt of the affidavits on Thursday would render his petition with the high tribunal moot.
“Not exactly moot because we were asking for them to nullify the proceedings because we were not given the opportunity,” he said.
Otherwise, Estrada said he was resigned to the prospect of the Ombudsman indicting them before the Sandiganbayan antigraft court.