Sen. Jinggoy Estrada Faced with Graft and Plunder Charges
JINGGOY ESTRADA – The camp of the Senator admitted that they are considering to request for a hospital arrest for him.
Another shakeup in the Senate recently took place. Twelve (12) senators voted to declare all the positions in the chamber vacant during the Wednesday plenary session. A quorum was reached as Sen. Chiz Escudero attended the session.
Prior to it, the then-majority bloc was no show for two (2) Senate plenary sessions. Some of the majority senators were seen accompanying Sen. Estrada when he voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities on Monday.
Then-Senate Pres. Alan Peter Cayetano and senators Rodante Marcoleta, Imee Marcos, Mark Villar, and Camille Villar showed their support to Estrada. Cayetano even stopped the authorities from arresting the accused Senator inside the premises of the chamber.
Estrada is faced with graft and plunder charges over the alleged multi-million flood control corruption. According to the Office of the Ombudsman, there was allegedly a systematic delivery of flood control kickback of not less than P573 million to the Senator.
Before he went with the authorities, Sen. Estrada spoke before the media. He called the accusations against him as alleged persecution. The Senator also claimed that he will not yield to the alleged persecution and he will remain under the lead of then-Senate Pres. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also said that he has instructed the Senate secretary to hold off his salary as he clears his name. According to him, he is ready to defend himself and will not seek the protection of the Senate.
Currently, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is detained in the Quezon City Jail. Based on News5, his lawyer confirmed that they are considering to apply for a hospital arrest for the detained Senator citing his knee condition.
Estrada was previously asking to be given the chance to have his knee surgery before he will be arrested. The accused Senator is reportedly suffering from osteoarthritis.
Based on the post, the camp pf Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said he is having a hard time even when sitting, thus, they will possibly seek a hospital arrest for him.
“We might have to kasi nga, as you can see, even na nakaupo lang siya sa Quezon City Jail nahihirapan siya. Parang you could consider it a potential pain management issue. Dati nakakayanan niya pinapatakbo siya ng ilang araw and stress naa-agravate,” his lawyer said.
Previously, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada requested the permission of Sandiganbayan to skip the PDL uniform at hearings.