Jinggoy asks court for later time to attend Erap’s birthday

Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. FILE PHOTO

Detained former senator Jinggoy Estrada apparently wants to be fashionably late to attend the birthday party of his father, former President now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

The former senator, detained for plunder over the pork barrel scam, on Monday asked the Sandiganbayan to give him a later time to party with his father.

Estrada asked his lawyers to appeal to the court to adjust his furlough from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., to  8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Estrada made this appeal even though the court had granted him his furlough to attend his father’s 80th birthday on April 19 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Manila Hotel.

But the court partially granted his furlough and allowed him six hours, even though he asked for 12 hours on April 18 to help in organizing the party, and from 5 p.m. on April 19 to 5 a.m. on April 20 to join the celebration.

READ: Jinggoy seeks furlough for Erap’s 80th birthday

“Over the objection of the prosecution, the court grants the motion in recognition of deeply embedded Filipino customs and traditions, covering respect and regard to parents and the elderly,” the court said in its minute resolution.

During open court, Estrada asked his lawyers Jose Flaminiano, Noel Malaya and Sabino Acut Jr. to ask the court to allow him to personally talk with the justices.

But division chairperson Associate Justice Rafael Lagos did not want to talk to Estrada personally, and instead asked him to course through his request to his lawyers.

“This is a pre-trial. This is not a mock…” Lagos said, shaking his head.

READ: Jinggoy’s furlough bid to attend Erap’s birthday opposed

Estrada’s lawyer Acut said Estrada’s appeal had to do with his request to give him a later time to party with his father.

“The court granted only six hours. We’d like to request for adjustment of time from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., to 8 p.m to 2 a.m.,” Acut told the court.

“Five p.m. is too early for a party,” the lawyer later said.

“There might be no people yet at 5 p.m.,” Malaya even told the court.

Lagos however gave unsolicited advice to Estrada: adjust the party time instead of asking the court to grant him that privilege.

“He has nothing to do with the party… Just tell Mayor Estrada to start early,” Lagos said.

Lagos warned the parties that the court will have to start over again and even reconsider its earlier resolution.

“We have to reconsider everything. You want to open it up again?” Lagos said.

The division had also terminated Estrada’s plunder pre-trial on Monday and set the trial proper on June 19 and every Monday thereafter.

READ: Plunder trial of ex-senator Jinggoy Estrada set in June 

Meanwhile, the court cancelled the scheduled graft pre-trial due to documents which are not yet stipulated upon. The court set another date for preliminary conference on April 24 and reset the graft pre-trial on May 22.

Estrada faces a plunder trial for allegedly receiving P183 million kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which was allegedly spent on ghost projects for kickbacks through the bogus foundations of accused mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

He was denied bail, and remains in police custody with co-accused Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center.

Another accused, the elderly Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was allowed by the Supreme Court to post bail for humanitarian considerations.

Estrada was also accused of 11 counts of graft for violating Section 3(e) of the anti-graft law for allegedly causing injury to government and giving undue preference to Napoles’ bogus foundations to implement his ghost pork barrel projects.

The former senators’ pork barrel scam charges were filed on June 2014.

READ: Ombudsman files plunder raps vs Napoles, Enrile, Estrada, Revilla 

The court’s permission to allow Estrada to attend his father’s birthday is a complete departure from its earlier resolutions issued under a different chairperson.

Estrada’s furlough bids to celebrate his birthday or his relatives’ birthdays had always been denied, except in the instance when the court granted his furlough to attend his son’s 2015 graduation so the child would not be “traumatized.”

In its comment opposition to Estrada’s furlough bid to attend his father’s birthday, the prosecutors reminded the court of its earlier resolutions denying Estrada’s furlough to attend a commemorative Mass for his birthday in Feb. 2015, to celebrate Christmas and New Year at home in 2014, to attend the wake of the late German Moreno in 2016, and to attend the 85th birthday of his mother Loi Ejercito Estrada in 2015.

The court, however, had always allowed Estrada’s furlough to attend medical check-ups. JE/rga

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