Jinggoy Estrada's Bail Plea Denied in Plunder Case

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has junked the motion by detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada to fix bail on a charge of plunder linked to his alleged involvement in the flood control scandal. The anti-graft court said the petition is “premature and devoid of legal basis.” “Until accused Estrada files the appropriate application for bail and the court, after the requisite hearing, determines that the evidence of guilt against him is not strong, there is no occasion for the court to fix the amount of bail. The motion must therefore be denied,” read a portion of the ruling penned by Sandiganbayan Fifth Division’s Associate Justice Gener Gito on July 24. “Accused Estrada attempts to bypass this indispensable constitutional requirement by asking the court to immediately fix the amount of bail without undergoing the mandated summary bail hearing,” the court said. Meanwhile, Palace press officer Claire Castro yesterday said that only the Sandiganbayan can decide whether or not detained Senators Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta will be allowed to participate in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Castro was responding to Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano’s “Kontra-SONA,” where he claimed that the two senators are “political prisoners” and they should be allowed to attend the impeachment trial. Castro argued that if the two senators are allowed to leave detention to practice their profession, the courts should also allow other detained professionals. Marcoleta is currently detained at the New Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas in connection with a P75-million plunder case. Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday said she is scheduled to visit Marcoleta. “I will speak to him very soon. Upon my return to the Philippines, I have scheduled visits to politicians and individuals who are currently in detention,” Duterte said in The Hague, Netherlands. She is expected to return to the Philippines tomorrow as her travel authority ends. The Senate yesterday elected Estrada to chair the Senate electoral reforms and people’s participation committee and Marcoleta to chair the tourism committee, despite their detention. In an ambush interview, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said Estrada and Marcoleta had to be given their committee posts because it is their right as duly elected senators.