Court approves month-long US trip for Jinggoy
March 26, 2018 | 7:15pm
Estrada is facing a plunder case and 11 counts of graft before the Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division. The STAR/Elizabeth Marcelo, file
MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada has been allowed to leave the country for one month despite a pending plunder case in connection with the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam.
In a hearing Monday morning, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division granted in open court Estrada's motion to travel to the United States from April 30 to May 30 despite the vehement objection of the Office of the Ombudsman's prosecution team.
In his motion filed on March 16, Estrada said he was invited by the group US Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) to be a guest speaker in its annual general membership meeting to be held in Sterling Heights, Michigan on May 20, 2018.
Estrada attached in his motion an invitation letter signed by USP4GG president William Dechavez.
"Our members would like to know the latest development in the Philippines, particularly those pertaining to the issues over extrajudicial killings, Dengvaxia mess and federalism plan," the letter read.
"We know that you are in the thick of all these developments, and we are certain you can discuss the said issues thoroughly and accurately," it added.
USP4GG is an organization of Filipinos based in the USA. The group said the event will be attended by at least 80 of is members.
Medical consultation for shoulder pains
Estrada said he will also have a medical consultation with an orthopedic surgeon at Stanford Hospital in connection with his recurring shoulder pains.
He said he will be accompanied by his wife Precy and their children Janella, Jolo, Julian and Jill during the trip.
Estrada said he had long promised his family, especially his son Julian, a vacation in the US after the boy graduated from high school in March 2015. Estrada was at that time still in detention over his plunder case.
The Fifth Division granted Estrada's motion despite the prosecution's objection pointing out that because the former senator failed to submit a detailed itinerary for entire the trip, thus, it would be difficult for authorities to locate his whereabouts.
Estrada is facing a plunder case and 11 counts of graft before the Fifth Division in connection with the alleged misuse of millions of pesos of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel during his term as a senator.
He is accused of receiving P183-million worth of kickbacks from the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles in exchange for allocating portions of his PDAF from 2004 to 2012 to the latter's bogus foundations for the supposed implementation of his livelihood projects.
The ombudsman, which filed the cases in June 2014, said Estrada's projects turned out to be “ghost” or fictitious.
Estrada was detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City since June 2014. But, on September 15, 2017 the Fifth Division allowed him to post bail on the ground of the supposed lack of evidence from the prosecution showing that he is the “main plunderer” in the case.
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