Sandigan denies Jinggoy plea to attend Mamasapano inquiry

MANILLA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has denied detained Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada’s plea to attend the Senate probe on the Mamasapano incident, which left 44 elite policemen dead in a clash with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In a resolution, the antigraft court said Estrada’s defense team failed to give new arguments that would change the court’s mind, especially after its earlier ruling denying his motion to conduct Senate hearings while in jail.

“We find the instant motion to be similar in its objective to the one previously filed, hence we are just adopting the ratio decidendi the resolution issued in the said incident. (Estrada) has not advanced any justification which will convince the court to depart from its previous ruling,” the resolution read.

The court also said the Senate committees conducting the probe could meet a quorum even without Estrada’s presence.

It said the Senate Public Order and Dangerous Drugs committee has nine members, while the Senate Peace, Unification and Reconciliation committee has seven members.

“We thus agree with the prosecution that the presence of Estrada is not indispensable as the committees can still proceed with their inquiry without his physical presence,” the resolution said.

In his urgent motion to be allowed to attend the Senate hearings, Estrada said he should be able to attend the hearing set on Feb. 9 as his constitutional right as duly elected senator.

Estrada also said he should be able to attend the hearings before the Senate public order committee because he is no longer suspended from the Senate as he faces plunder and graft raps over the pork barrel scam.

The prosecution opposed the motion, saying Estrada could not be allowed to attend Senate hearings because he is not a free man.

The prosecution noted however that it joins Estrada in calling for justice for the slain 44 members of the Special Action Force, who were sent to Mamasapano town in Maguindanao to capture an international terrorist but were fired at by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.