Sandiganbayan upholds denial of Senator Estrada bid to dismiss graft case

The Sandiganbayan Second Division has affirmed its earlier ruling denying Sen. Jinggoy Estrada's attempt to have the graft case against him dismissed.

Estrada is also facing a non-bailable plunder charge involving an alleged P573 million in kickbacks linked to flood control projects in Metro Manila, Oriental Mindoro, and Bulacan.

The graft case before the Second Division specifically covers the Bulacan projects, where state prosecutors alleged that Estrada received a 25-percent kickback amounting to around P213 million from flood control contracts worth P855 million.

In a resolution promulgated on July 10, the anti-graft court denied Estrada's June 16 motion for reconsideration, which sought to reverse its June 4 order rejecting his Urgent Omnibus Motion Ad Cautelam.

Through the omnibus motion, Estrada had asked the court to quash the information, dismiss the case, suspend the proceedings, or send the case back for a preliminary investigation or reinvestigation.

"The motion lacks merit," stated part of the six-page resolution of the anti-graft court promulgated on July 10.

Estrada argued that the information filed against him was defective because it allegedly failed to identify the specific acts constituting the offense, depriving him of his constitutional right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.

The court, however, said the senator's own pleadings showed that he fully understood the allegations against him.

According to the resolution, his omnibus motion and motion for reconsideration "contain extensive discussions" on issues including project requests, the budget process, the alleged kickbacks, and the prosecution's legal theories.

"Such extensive refutation belies any claim of uncertainty regarding the accusation he faces," the court said.

Estrada also claimed that he was denied due process during the preliminary investigation. The court rejected this argument, pointing out that he had submitted a counter-affidavit, demonstrating that he was given the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

His camp likewise argued that it was not allowed to file a motion for reconsideration before the Office of the Ombudsman. The Sandiganbayan ruled, however, that filing such a motion is "merely a privilege" and that the absence of that opportunity is not a sufficient basis to dismiss the case or order a reinvestigation.

On June 16, the Second Division also ordered Estrada suspended from his post as senator for 90 days while the graft case is pending.