Sen. Jinggoy Estrada arrives at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City for his arraignment on graft charges on Tuesday (June 2, 2026), which was reset to June 4 after co-accused former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan sought a postponement due to health concerns. (PNA photo by Robert Alfiler)
The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division denied Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s request to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Estrada had sought temporary leave from detention so he could sit as a senator-judge in the proceedings before the Senate impeachment court.
In a resolution dated July 9, the antigraft court rejected Estrada’s motion to be allowed to attend the trial.
Estrada is facing a non-bailable plunder case before the Fifth Division over an alleged scheme involving illegal budget insertions and project allocations in the Department of Public Works and Highways’ 2025 infrastructure portfolio.
State prosecutors alleged that the questioned allocations were worth Php 573 million, although Estrada has repeatedly denied the accusations.
In seeking permission from the court, Estrada argued that his presence was important because conviction in an impeachment trial requires the vote of two-thirds of all senators, or 16 of 24 senator-judges, including him.
The court, however, noted that Duterte’s impeachment trial was scheduled three times a week to complete 92 trial days over about 31 weeks.
The Sandiganbayan said such a long and recurring arrangement could not be treated as an emergency or a compelling reason for temporary leave from detention. Estrada, who is viewed as part of the pro-Duterte bloc in the Senate, would have been among those deciding whether to convict or acquit Duterte, whose conviction would remove her from office and bar her from holding public office.
