Senator Jose ‘Jinggoy Estrada’ Ejercito Jr. on Friday posted a bail of P90,000 after being issued an arrest warrant along with former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan over alleged flood control anomalies.
The son of former president Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada was issued a warrant by the Sandiganbayan on charges of corruption related to his alleged links to the flood control controversy.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed the case last Thursday, together with another case in which Estrada and Bonoan were charged with former DPWH National Capital Region officials Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr.
All five were named respondents in the plunder case, which was raffled off to the Fifth Division.
According to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, no bail was recommend bail even as hold departure orders (HDOs) against the respondents will be pursued so as to preserve the integrity of the case in court.
However, although a respondent charged with plunder cannot automatically post bail, if a court orders his arrest, he could file a petition to let him post bail.
Clavano disclosed that the cases against Estrada and other respondents “stem from an intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for Fiscal Year 2025.”
He added kickbacks worth over ₱573 million were systematically delivered to the Estrada.
Former DPWH Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez had accused the senator of maneuvering ₱355 million worth of insertions in the 2023 national budget in exchange for a 30-percent commission.
Estrada has denied the allegation, saying there were no documentary evidences that would prove he was implicated in the allegations.
Hiwever, while acknowledging that the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office certified there were no records that Estrada had made the budget insertions, Hernandez cited that the certificate “does not capture all stages of the budgetary process, wherein insertions may be made in a layered method.”
Bonoan likewise denied the charges in an interview at the House of Representatives, where he was a resource person in the investigation conducted by the House Infrastructure Committee on flood control projects.
In a media briefing, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Juanito Victor ‘Jonvic’ Remulla Jr Remulla told reporters at Camp Karingal in Quezon City that he personally called Estrada to discuss the possible implementation of the Sandiganbayan arrest order.
“I told him (his choices are) either surrender or arrest. He told me he’ll think about it,” Remulla narrated.
He said Estrada mentioned he needed knee replacement surgery but in order for this to be allowed, the decision would be all up to the anti-graft court: “Our job is to process his arrest and submit him to the Sandiganbayan.”
Still, Remulla assured that Erap Estrada’s eldest son would not receive special treatment if taken into custody even as he cited that it was all the same with Sen. Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla and other accused individuals facing similar cases who are now in detention.
“They’re all there at the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) in Quezon City. There’s no special treatment there,” he asserted.