Jinggoy Estrada files motion for bail

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 11 years ago

Senator Jinggoy Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Jinggoy Estrada filed a motion for him to post bail on his plunder charges over the alleged pork barrel scam.

The senator filed the motion for bail on a non-bailable offense just hours after the Sandiganbayan issued the arrest warrant against him and his co-accused and after he surrendered to the police.

According to his motion, Estrada should be allowed to post bail on plunder because the “evidence of guilt is abent, and at worst, is not strong” and that the senator is not a “flight risk.”

“More importantly, there is no proof that Senator Estrada amassed, accumulated and acquired ill-gotten wealth…” the motion read.

The motion explained that the senator is not a flight risk because he is a “movie actor and a celebrity.”

“He is easily recognizable making it impossible for him to depart from any airport or port,” the motion said.

On Monday, the Sandiganbayan fifth division issued the arrest warrant against Estrada and his co-accused after finding probable cause to hold them on trial.

The Ombudsman, in indicting the senator, said Estrada amassed P183.795 million in commissions from 2004 to 2012 from the alleged illegal disbursement of his Priority Development Assistance Funds.

Estrada faces one count of plunder, a non-bailable offense, and 11 counts of graft.

Also charged were Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile, and alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Revilla surrendered Friday to the anti-graft court after it found probable cause on the charges filed against him. He is now detained in Camp Crame.

This is not the first time that Estrada would be detained for plunder. He was detained with his father, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, in 2001 but the senator was later acquitted and released.