SC junks another Jinggoy plea in plunder case

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has once again turned down the plea of detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for relief in the plunder case against him before the Sandiganbayan over his alleged involvement in the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.

In yesterday’s session, the SC denied his request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the anti-graft court from admitting as evidence the disbursement report of JLN Corp., owned by alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim Napoles and the corresponding testimony of whistle-blower Benhur Luy.

The SC did not see the need to issue the TRO while resolving Estrada’s petition. Instead, it required the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division to answer the allegations in the petition by filing a comment within 10 days from receiving the notice. 

In his latest petition, Estrada specifically questioned the resolutions of the Sandiganbayan in October and December last year denying his request to exclude the purported daily JLN Corp. cash and check disbursement reports prepared by Luy.

Estrada accused the anti-graft court of committing grave abuse of discretion and violating his constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizure in denying his plea.

Last month, the SC junked petitions of Estrada last year seeking to stop his trial for plunder.

The senator, however, still has another petition pending with the SC – this time questioning the Sandigabayan’s decision to reject his bail petition.

Estrada and his colleagues, Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. were among the government officials charged in connection with the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam allegedly perpetrated by Napoles in connivance with lawmakers who channeled their pork barrel allocation to bogus non-government organizations she established.