Sandiganbayan orders release of Jinggoy Estrada

(Updated, 11:30 a.m.) The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ordered Saturday the release of former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada from detention after posting a P1.3-million bail.

The release order, signed by Associate Justice Edgardo Calona, directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to free Estrada from the PNP Custodial Camp in Camp Crame, where he had been detained since June 2014 for plunder and graft and corruption allegations.

Sandiganbayan Court Sheriff Romulo Barrozo would then bring the order to Camp Crame and bring Estrada to the Sandiganbayan to take his fingerprints and process his papers.

Estrada’s camp, led by his lawyer, Alexis Abastillas-Suarez, posted the bail at 10 a.m. at the Sandiganbayan, which keeps a skeletal force on Saturdays for requests like posting of bail.

READ: Jinggoy Estrada camp posts bail

The camp paid a total of P1.3 million for his bail—P1 million for the plunder charge, and P330,000 for 11 counts of violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act—and P23,350 for the legal fees.

In a decision Friday, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division said “there was no strong evidence” that Estrada was the “main plunderer” in the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. /idl