Manila: Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada was released from prison after posting bail of 1 million pesos (Dh71,579) but the anti-graft court was quick to warn he was not in the clear yet.
The Sandiganbayan said it would continue investigating allegations that the former senator, son of former president Joseph Estrada, received P183.79 million in kickbacks from a businesswoman to get his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to finance projects linked to her non-functional non-governmental organisations from 2010 to 2014.
“As to Estrada’s Priority Development Assistance Fund allocation, he could be the central figure, considering that none of the transactions could ever be initiated and facilitated without his initial decision to proceed,” said the Sandiganbayan’s resolution which was released on Friday night, but implemented on Saturday, when Estrada posted his bail.
“But it cannot also be denied that the elaborate scheme is not his own doing, and is in fact the handiwork of accused Janet Lim Napoles. Although there is evidence to show that there were glaring irregularities in the disbursement of accused Estrada’s PDAF allocations and that he received a sum of money from his participation in these irregularities, there is no strong evidence to show that he is the main plunderer within the contemplation of the plunder law and as alleged in the information [of the case].”
The Sandiganbayan added that the Supreme Court had already upheld a new requirement that the main plunderer in the information sheet of any plunder case filed in court must be identified.
The Sandiganbayan said it is “duty bound to follow and apply the Supreme Court’s rulings in that case.”
The same court had rejected Estrada’s initial request for bail after upholding an information sheet that identified Estrada and his chief of staff Pauline Labayen as the main plunderers in the case.
Although it allowed Estrada to post bail, the Sandiganbayan said it “could not yet dismiss Estrada’s plunder charge. It could not yet decide whether or not Estrada is guilty of the offence. There is no basis to dismiss the case due to defective information [of the case filed in court]”.
Estrada’s political stature, prominence and his voluntary surrender in 2014 showed “the probability of [his] flight [while on bail] is not that much,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Estrada’s lawyer Alex Abastillas said the ruling indicated that the case against Estrada was weak.
Meanwhile, observers expressed fear that Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, who was also detained in 2014 for alleged misuse of the PDAF facility, might soon be allowed to post bail.
Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile — also detained under similar charges in July 2014 — was allowed by the Supreme Court to post bail due to old age in August 2015.
Revilla was accused of getting P224.5 million in kickbacks, while Enrile was said to have received P172.8 million as a result of the scam.
Plunder is a non-bailable offence in the Philippines.
