Estrada surrenders to CIDG over plunder warrant

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

Senator Jinggoy Estrada (Senate of the Philippines/facebook)

MANILA – Senator Jinggoy Estrada surrendered to the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Monday after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division issued a second arrest warrant against him, this time in a non-bailable plunder case.

In a statement he read before reporters, Estrada said he would not seek Senate custody or use the institution as a shield from the charges.

The latest warrant came days after the Sandiganbayan Second Division issued an arrest warrant against Estrada in a bailable graft case, for which he was able to post PHP90,000 bail.

“Hindi ako papasailalim sa kustodiya ng Senado. I will not seek Senate custody. Hindi ko gagamitin ang Senado bilang panangga laban sa mga alegasyon sa akin (I will not place myself under Senate custody. I will not seek Senate custody. I will not use the Senate as a shield against the allegations against me),” Estrada said.

He said he is prepared to defend himself in court and prove that the allegations against him have no basis.

Estrada also said he has instructed the Senate Secretary to put his salary on hold while he clears his name.

“I am giving instructions to the Senate Secretary to put my salary on hold. Personal kong pasya ito upang ipakita sa sambayanang Pilipino na wala akong intensiyong makinabang sa pondo ng bayan habang nililinis ko ang aking pangalan (This is my personal decision to show the Filipino people that I have no intention of benefiting from public funds while I clear my name),” he said.

Estrada was accompanied by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano when he submitted himself to CIDG custody.

Estrada maintained that he would remain with the majority bloc under Cayetano’s leadership despite what he described as pressure, threats, and political maneuvering.

“I will remain firmly with the majority bloc under the leadership of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano. Hindi ako matitinag sa anumang panggigipit, pananakot, political maneuvering para talikuran ang paninindigan kong ito (I will remain firmly with the majority bloc under the leadership of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano. I will not be shaken by any pressure, threat, or political maneuvering to abandon this stand),” he said.

Estrada claimed he had been repeatedly offered the dismissal of his case in exchange for leaving the independent majority bloc, but said he rejected the offers.

Estrada denied any involvement in the alleged scheme, citing the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office, which he said informed the Ombudsman that it had no document or record showing that he made any insertion in the 2025 national budget.

“So how can the Office of the Ombudsman file a plunder case against me when I am not even alleged to be part of, or the mastermind of, the supposed scheme? Wala akong kinalaman dyan (I have nothing to do with that),” he said.

Meanwhile, during a press briefing at Camp Crame where Estrada underwent booking procedures, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla revealed that Cayetano had tried to stop the arrest by invoking senators’ immunity.

According to Remulla, Cayetano argued that even during the time of the late Senate president Jovito Salonga, senators were afforded immunity from arrest within Senate premises as a matter of institutional courtesy, given that the Senate is a co-equal branch of government alongside the Executive and the Judiciary.

“The question was whether yung (the) separation of the executive and the legislative. Sabi niya (He said), even at the time of Salonga, he protected [former Senate President Juan Ponce] Enrile. Ang sabi ko sa kanya (I told him)… ‘Sir, I’m sorry. You lost that privilege when Bato (Senator Ronald Dela Rosa) escaped,” Remulla said, referring to the May 14 incident in which Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who was wanted by the International Criminal Court, allegedly evaded arrest while under Senate custody.

Remulla also rejected claims that Estrada had voluntarily surrendered, stressing that he was arrested.

All of Estrada’s co-accused — former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan and former DPWH officials Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan, and Arturo Gonzales — are now in government custody.

Bonoan, Remulla said, was taken to the Philippine National Police General Hospital after experiencing a spike in blood pressure.

“Secretary Bonoan is on his way to the hospital because his blood pressure is listed at 192/100. He will be kept there for an undetermined amount of time until he stabilizes, and the doctors will say he is fit to stand trial,” he said.

Estrada was among the senators charged in 2014 over the Priority Development Assistance Fund, or pork barrel scam, along with then-senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile.

In January 2024, the Sandiganbayan acquitted Estrada of plunder in his PDAF case but convicted him of direct and indirect bribery.

Both Estrada and Revilla later faced separate cases arising from alleged flood control anomalies.

Revilla surrendered to authorities in January 2026 after the Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant in connection with an alleged PHP92.8-million ghost flood control project in Bulacan.

The latest plunder case against Estrada stems from alleged kickbacks from flood control projects, which he has repeatedly denied.

This article is republished from PNA.