Jinggoy can’t invoke Erap’s birthday leave

Will former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada be allowed the same privilege as his father, former President Joseph Estrada, who was able to leave detention for his mother’s birthday in 2004 without a hitch?

The Ombudsman’s Office of the Special Prosecutor has filed a seven-page opposition to the request of the detained former senator for a 12-hour furlough on April 18 and an overnight 12-hour furlough on April 19 and 20.

Jinggoy, in requesting permission to take part in the 80th birthday celebration of his father this month, invoked the Sandiganbayan’s grant of a furlough to the elder Estrada during the 99th birthday celebration of Doña Mary Ejercito in 2004, when he was detained pending trial for plunder.

The opposing camp, however, stressed that state prosecutors at the time did not object to extending the privilege to the former president, unlike now when all of Jinggoy’s motions to leave his detention cell for various reasons have been blocked.

“The prosecution then interposed no objection to former President Estrada’s request, unlike in these cases where every motion filed by accused Estrada for a furlough/pass is met with opposition from the prosecution, including the present motion,” the pleading said.

Jinggoy had failed in his previous requests for furloughs for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays in 2014, his birthday mass in February 2015, the wake of television host German Moreno in January 2016 and the 86th birthday of his mother, former Sen. Loi Ejercito in June 2016.

State prosecutors said allowing him to take part in his father’s birthday celebration would only show the public that he is a favored detainee. They also noted that Jinggoy’s physical presence is “not necessarily required” for the celebration.

“Estrada’s request for leave cannot and should not be allowed,” the opposition read. “Indeed, to give him leave would amount to giving him, though undeserved, favor over and above ordinary detainees.”

Jinggoy faces a plunder case for allegedly receiving P183.8 million in kickbacks in exchange for diverting his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations to fake foundations linked to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

The actor-politician, who has been detained at the Philippine National Police custodial facility since June 2014, also faces 11 counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

His father stood trial for plunder after his resignation in 2001. The Sandiganbayan convicted him in September 2007 for collecting hundreds of millions of pesos in kickbacks, partly from the illegal numbers game jueteng; however, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned him six weeks later.