MANILA, Philippines – Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada on Wednesday maintained his innocence over allegations that he was involved in the pork barrel scam.
Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada INQUIRER.net
“Matatag at malakas ang aking paninindigan na ako ay walang kasalanan (With firm conviction I am innocent),” Estrada said before a huge crowd in the Senate.
He said he is not afraid of being put in jail. “Di nila ko kailangang hanapin at kaladkarin kung kailangan kaming arestuhin dahil ako mismo ang susuko,” he said.
Looking back, 42 counts of graft were slapped Monday on Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla, and Janet Lim-Napoles and other officials of public and private companies for their role in the alleged irregular disbursements of some P1.14 billion in pork barrel allotments from 2004 to 2010.
It was the second batch of criminal information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in the Sandiganbayan against the senators and their chiefs of staff who were charged with plunder on Friday.
The graft charges are bailable offenses, but the plunder charges are nonbailable.
For allegedly mishandling their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), Revilla is facing 16 counts of graft; Enrile, 15 counts; and Estrada, 11 counts.
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