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Metro Manila, Philippines – Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was back in detention on Monday, June 1 for a non-bailable plunder charge over allegations of pocketing more than half a billion of public funds from infrastructure projects – just two years after his acquittal from the same offense. The senator was detained in the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory, the detention facility for the accused in the flood control scam, including former colleague and then-senator Bong Revilla. Estrada is the highest-ranking incumbent official jailed since the Marcos administration began investigating corruption in flood control projects in 2025. It is Estrada’s third plunder case in over two decades after securing an acquittal in high-profile cases: the jueteng scandal in 2001 and the pork barrel scam in 2014. He is out on bail over a pending graft case related to the pork barrel scam. READ: Jinggoy Estrada’s history of plunder cases The Department…

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Senate majority bloc did not show up for the session on Monday, June 1, following the arrest of ally Senator Jinggoy Estrada on plunder charges, drawing condemnation from the 11-member minority bloc, which said the “boycott” stalled a number of important bills. The minority senators waited for two hours before leaving the session hall together shortly after 7 p.m. The session had been scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.  At around 5:20 p.m., Senators Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan declined to call it a boycott, even as their colleagues from the majority bloc were absent and failed to provide any explanation for not attending the session on time. “We’ll wait for them. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt,” Zubiri said.  Pangilinan noted that under Senate rules, only the Senate president can call for a session.  Cayetano: Let’s ‘go quiet’ At…

Metro Manila, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte has asked the Impeachment Court to dismiss the Articles of Impeachment, arguing that the case suffers from “fatal constitutional, procedural, and substantive defects.” In the voluminous response to the articles submitted by her lawyers to the Senate on Monday, June 1, Duterte said the impeachment complaint failed to meet constitutional standards. “The Articles of Impeachment suffer from fatal constitutional, procedural, and substantive defects. They fail to satisfy the standards required by the Constitution and, accordingly, should be dismissed,” she said. A central argument raised by the vice president was that the House committee on justice allegedly exceeded its authority by conducting what its chairperson publicly described as a “mini-trial.” “The Constitution vests in the House the power to initiate impeachment proceedings, but reserves the power to try and decide impeachment cases solely to the Senate,” the response read. The defense said the…

Metro Manila, Philippines – Senator Jinggoy Estrada on Monday, June 1, said he was repeatedly offered a deal to leave the Senate majority bloc in exchange for the dismissal of his cases in relation to the flood control scam. He made the statement after voluntarily surrendering to authorities in light of an arrest warrant by the Sandiganbayan over the non-bailable plunder charge. “Ngayon ko lang ito isasapubliko: Maraming beses akong inalok na talikuran ang independent majority bloc kapalit ang pagbabasura sa aking kaso, ngunit hindi ko ito tinanggap. Mas nanaig ang paninindigan ko na manatili sa hanay ng mga kasamahan ko sa independent majority bloc,” said Estrada . [Translation: I will make this public now: I was offered a number of times to turn my back on the independent majority bloc in exchange for the dismissal of my case, but I rejected it. I chose to stand by my colleagues…

Metro Manila, Philippines – Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has filed a motion before the Sandiganbayan seeking the dismissal of the charges against him, alongside a request for a reinvestigation into allegations implicating him in the pocketing of public funds, amid a looming warrant of arrest for non-bailable plunder. In a statement on Monday, June 1, Estrada said his camp filed the omnibus motion, asking the anti-graft court to first consider the motions he filed amid the pending warrant of arrest for plunder and another count of graft in the fifth division. Estrada said their latest pleading includes a motion for the case to be quashed and dismissed with prejudice or in alternative, a request to suspend the proceedings and remand the case back to the ombudsman for reinvestigation.  The senator’s camp earlier filed a motion to withdraw the warrant of arrest, as well as a request to consolidate the cases. On…