Philippine court clears former leader Estrada’s son of plunder charges
2024.01.19
Manila

The Philippines’ anti-graft court on Friday cleared the prominent senator son of former President Joseph Estrada of plunder, the same charge that the ex-leader himself was convicted and imprisoned for in the past.
The Sandiganbayan court’s Fifth Division, in its verdict, acquitted Sen. Jinggoy Estrada of charges accusing him of having plundered U.S. $3.5 million from his pork-barrel funds. But the divisional court in Quezon City, Metro Manila, found him guilty of bribery – a conviction that could get him up to 15 years in prison.
“Criminal intent on the part of Senator Estrada is absent in this case,” the anti-graft court said in its 396-page ruling on the plunder charge.
Estrada’s lawyer said his client would appeal the conviction for bribery, which would technically bar the senator from holding public office and from voting. The Senate, however, said that Estrada would still be allowed to hold office. Estrada was also asked to pay a fine of up to 3 million Philippine pesos ($53,610).
The Estradas are a prominent family in the Philippines, a Southeast Asian country where dynasties are known to control every facet of life – from business to politics.
The case stemmed from allegations that Jinggoy Estrada (also known as Jose P. Ejercito Estrada) knew of kickbacks and commissions representing a percentage of costs for infrastructure projects funded through his pork barrel, known here as a “priority development assistance fund” (PDAF).
The funds were controlled by Janet Lim Napoles through two foundations that allegedly carried out the non-existent projects. Napoles was convicted and sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment for each of the five counts of corruption.
The court said that while Estrada was “negligent” in monitoring where his PDAF was used, it could not be “construed as an overt act in furtherance of conspiracy with Napoles and the other accused.”
It said that Estrada’s former deputy chief of staff and co-accused, Pauline Therese Mary Labayen – who is at-large – was primarily the one who benefitted from the scam.
“Capitalizing on her connection with Senator Estrada, she would casually drop his name whenever she would transact with Napoles,” the court said.

Speaking with reporters after the ruling, Estrada thanked the anti-graft body for the decision but he contested the guilty verdict because, he said, he was not charged with bribery in the first place.
“I did not receive any money. I would like to thank the magistrates of the Sandiganbayan that after a decade, my case has been resolved. It took almost 10 years but still, I am very, very thankful. This is a vindication of my name,” he told reporters.
“It is only the case of plunder. And I have already been acquitted. I have been exonerated of plunder and I will ask my lawyers to exhaust all legal remedies, all legal options available for me. But I still believe in our justice system,” he added.
Estrada’s lawyer, Alexis Abastillas-Suarez, said the acquittal marked a “very big victory” but added that they had yet to completely analyze the verdict because “bribery is not part of the information on the crime of plunder.”
“We still have to read the court’s decision,” the attorney told reporters. “We still have legal remedies to file. So, [Estrada] can still hold office.”
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that Estrada would remain a senator, pending results of his appeal of the bribery conviction.
“He has the right to exhaust all of these legal remedies. He can still file a Motion for Reconsideration with the Sandiganbayan. He can still file an appeal by certiorari with the Supreme Court,” Zubiri said.
“Until and unless the decision becomes final and executory, Sen. Jinggoy is duty-bound to continue performing his functions as Senator of the Republic,” he said.

Estrada’s brother, J.V. Ejercito, who is also a senator, attended Friday’s hearing. He urged the public to “respect the wisdom and fairness of our justice system.”
“Our justice system, despite its imperfection, is there to maintain law and order, protect our rights, and provide justice” Ejercito said in a statement.
The brothers’ father, Joseph Estrada, the family patriarch who is now 86, was a popular action movie star before he parlayed his popularity into public office.
He became president in 1998, but his six-year term was cut short by accusations of incompetence and corruption. He was impeached, but allies in the Senate voted to keep a key piece of evidence.
Public discontent snowballed into a military-backed popular revolt that forced him to step down barely halfway into his term.
Joseph Estrada was later pardoned, ran again for the presidency but lost to Benigno Aquino III in 2010. He then joined local politics and became the mayor of Manila for two terms until 2019.