{"id":144621,"date":"2018-01-09T01:02:05","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T06:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=144621"},"modified":"2018-01-09T01:02:05","modified_gmt":"2018-01-09T06:02:05","slug":"jinggoy-estrada-on-senate-comeback-i-havent-decided-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/01\/09\/jinggoy-estrada-on-senate-comeback-i-havent-decided-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Jinggoy Estrada on Senate comeback: I haven\u2019t decided yet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Former<\/a>
Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada. (Photo<\/a>: Jinggoy Estrada\/ Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While still undergoing trial for plunder and graft in line with his alleged role in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, former senator Jinggoy Estrada on Monday revealed that he is eyeing the possibility of running for a Senate seat in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t decided yet eh,\u00a0pero siyempre nandun pa rin\u00a0\u2019yung<\/em> inclination natin<\/em> to serve our people on a national level\u00a0(but of course there is still the inclination to serve our people on a national level),\u201d\u00a0Estrada said in a chance interview with reporters on the sideline of his plunder case hearing at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.<\/p>\n

While Estrada said nothing is final yet about his political plans in 2019, he is already \u201cgoing around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going around the country to thank the people for their unwavering support,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The former senator earlier announced that he plans to go on a nationwide \u201cthank you tour\u201d the moment he steps his foot out of detention last September 16, 2016, after the Sandiganbayan granted him bail in the non-bailable offense of plunder for allegedly pocketing P183.79 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).<\/p>\n

Estrada has also expressed confidence that his pending trial would not affect his political comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no [effect]. If you remember when i first ran in 2004, I still had an outstanding case, a pending case together with my father, a plunder case in 2004, and eventually I was acquitted,” Estrada said, referring to the Sandiganbayan\u2019s guilty verdict against former President Joseph Estrada in 2007 but acquitted Jinggoy of all charges.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito, Estrada\u2019s half-brother, had earlier said in a television interview that he is not considering a re-election as a senator in 2019 if Estrada will also run for a seat at the Senate.<\/p>\n

“Di ako papayag na dalawang <\/em>member ang tatakbo. Kung sakali <\/em>I will do the supreme sacrifice (I won\u2019t allow that two members of the family will run. If ever, I will do the supreme sacrifice),” the senator said.<\/p>\n

Estrada said he hasn\u2019t conversed with Ejercito regarding the matter.<\/p>\n

The former senator was also quick to get rid of speculations that he would run as mayor of San Juan City.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, that\u2019s not true. Panay<\/em> rumors, panay<\/em> gossip,\u201d Estrada said. Asked if Ejercito will run for a local seat, Estrada said he would not know. \u00a0Before he became senator, Estrada was a long time mayor of San Juan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While still undergoing trial for plunder and graft in line with his alleged role in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":92671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[25926,22147,42378,3251],"class_list":["post-144621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-25926","tag-comeback","tag-former-senator-jinggoy-estrada","tag-senate","mauthors-joanna-belle-deala","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}