Jinggoy Estrada seeks end to bail hearings | Inquirer News

Jinggoy Estrada seeks end to bail hearings

By: - Reporter / @MRamosINQ
/ 05:02 AM June 06, 2015

Detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Friday urged the prosecution to bring its presentation of evidence against him to a close, arguing that his petition for probationary liberty in the Sandiganbayan was “already ripe for resolution.”

A year after he and fellow opposition Senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile were indicted for plunder and graft over the P10-billion pork barrel scam, Estrada said prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman had still failed to show strong proof of guilt against him.

Estrada, who had been locked up at Camp Crame since he was arrested in June last year, reminded the prosecution that bail hearings should be “summary in nature.”

Article continues after this advertisement

“(T)he prosecution (has) already availed plenty of time to present its case,” the detained senator said in a statement. “One long year has passed and the prosecutors have neither presented nor proven strong evidence of guilt against me.”

FEATURED STORIES

“I think that is enough time for them to argue their case and I believe they failed to substantiate their theory against me. All they had presented before the court are hearsay testimony and speculation from the so-called whistleblowers which do not have probative value,” he added.

Estrada said the government’s primary witnesses against him had previously admitted in open court that “they have no personal knowledge” about the alleged kickbacks he purportedly received from suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

Article continues after this advertisement

The senator is facing trial in the antigraft court for allegedly pocketing P184 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allotments which he supposedly funneled through the fake foundations set up by Napoles.

He insisted that the irregularities attributed to him “did not ever happen and there is absolutely no shred of truth to their allegations.”

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

TAGS: Bong Revilla

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.