The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of Senator Jinggoy Estrada anew in connection with the ₱573-million plunder case involving alleged irregularities in Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) infrastructure projects.
In a five-page resolution promulgated on Monday, October 12, the anti-graft court directed Estrada’s suspension from his Senate seat and any other public office he may hold.
The resolution, penned by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, followed the court’s resolution of motions questioning the validity of the formal charges against the senator.
On October 9, the Fifth Division denied Estrada’s motion for reconsideration of its earlier ruling allowing prosecutors to amend the case information to exclude former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, who became a state witness for the Office of the Ombudsman.
The court said issuing the preventive suspension order became its ministerial duty after the validity of the charges had been settled.
“Once a proper determination of the validity of the information has been made, it becomes the ministerial duty of the court to forthwith issue the order of preventive suspension,” the resolution stated
The Sandiganbayan also directed the Office of the Senate President to implement the suspension and report its action within five days of receiving the resolution. The suspension will automatically be lifted after 90 days of implementation.
This marks Estrada’s second 90-day preventive suspension order in connection with the cases linked to the alleged flood control project scandal.
In June, the Sandiganbayan Second Division ordered his preventive suspension in a separate graft case. The latest order was issued by the Fifth Division, which is handling the ₱573-million plunder case.
Estrada previously opposed another suspension, arguing that he was already detained at the New Quezon City Jail and that a second 90-day suspension would be more punitive. Prosecutors, however, maintained that his detention and suspension in a separate case did not exempt him from the court’s order.
The senator has repeatedly denied allegations that he influenced or received kickbacks from flood control projects.
