Sandigan to rule this week on plunder case bail petitions

The Sandiganbayan. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan is expected to decide within the week whether it will allow Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada temporary liberty while being tried for plunder.

In an unusual move, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division decided to forego bail hearings.

The issue of bail is crucial before the trial starts, since the grant of bail is seen as an indication that the prosecution’s evidence is weak.

If bail is denied, this means the evidence against the accused is probably strong.

Aside from Estrada, his co-accused, alleged pork bark barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles and her driver John Raymund De Asis also asked to be allowed to post bail.

De Asis and another co-accused, Estrada’s former deputy chief of staff Pauline Therese Lebayen, have not turned themselves in since the court ordered their arrest last June 23 based on the plunder complaint.

Estrada has been detained at the PNP Custodial Center since he turned himself in on June 23, while Napoles has been detained at a special PNP detention facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, since August last year due to an illegal detention court case.

At a hearing last Friday, June 27, Fifth Division chairman Associate Justice Roland Jurado said they would now resolve the petitions for bail based on the lawyers’ written arguments. At the following hearing on Monday during the arraignment, the justices said their decision on the bail issue was imminent.

“We’ll come up with the resolution of the petitions for bail within the week,” Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo said.

The third member is newly appointed Associate Justice Theresa Gomez-Estoesta, who assumed the post only last week after the President’s delayed appointment.

For the bail petition of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., who was also charged with plunder, the Sandiganbayan First Division scheduled hearings twice a week starting July 10 before it decides whether to grant his request.

Revilla’s co-accused, staff member Richard Cambe, also asked for bail, as well as Napoles.

Revilla and Cambe have been detained at the PNP Custodial Center since June 20 when they turned themselves in after the court issued the arrest warrants.

In asking to be allowed to post bail, Estrada’s lawyers assured the court he would not escape since he is a movie actor, a politician and the son of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, a former president who had been convicted of plunder but was pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

They also argued that although plunder is a non-bailable offense, the rules of court allow bail when the evidence is not strong.

“Senator Estrada is entitled to bail because the evidence of guilt is absent, at worst is not strong,” his lawyers said in their petition.

They said the pork barrel funds that he and co-accused allegedly pocketed were “in fact and in law released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) directly to the implementing agencies, and from the implementing agencies to the local government units or the nongovernment organizations.”

“Also it is not disputed that Senator Estrada never had control or custody of a single centavo of the funds. Likewise there has been no allegation, much less proof, that Senator Estrada instructed anyone to divert any funds for his personal use,” they went on.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have opposed the request of graft co-accused former Technology Resource Center director Dennis Cunanan to be allowed to travel abroad despite the hold departure order.

Cunanan asked the Sandiganbayan’s permission to go to Japan from July 7 to 15 and to the United States from July 20 to August 3 to fulfill his obligations as secretary general of the Junior Chambers International.

He said he has to go because his work in the JCI is now his only source of income.

The prosecution panel headed by Deputy Special Prosecutor John Turalba, however, countered that Cunanan “failed to demonstrate the necessity” of participating in the events.

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