Metro Manila, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan fifth division has denied the request of detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada to participate in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte for lack of merit.
“Allowing the accused-movant to attend the impeachment trial would virtually make him a free man with all the privileges appurtenant to his position. It would not only elevate his status to that of a special class but also make a mockery of the purposes of preventive suspension,” the anti-graft court said in a resolution dated Thursday, July 9.
Estrada has been detained at the New Quezon City Jail since June over a non-bailable plunder charge, linked to supposed pocketing of more than half a billion pesos from flood control projects.
The Sandiganbayan second division preventively suspended him for 90 days over a separate graft charge – an order implemented by the Senate on June 22.
The fifth division said Estrada argued in his request that participating in the trial as a senator-judge constitutes “a compelling reason that justifies a temporary leave from detention.” He also cited the constitutional requirement, which requires two-thirds of all the members of the Senate to convict an impeachable officer.
The court said while the impeachment trial is of paramount constitutional importance, its significance is not a sufficient basis to grant the senator’s request.
It noted that should he be allowed to attend, it would constitute a continuing and recurring leave from detention for a total of 92 trial days, which may last for a span of 31 weeks.
“To grant such request would substantially erode the very restraints that lawful detention necessarily entails,” the ruling penned by Associate Justice Mary Ann Corpus Mañalac read.
The court also noted that Estrada’s circumstance is incomparable to the temporary leave granted to then detained prisoner Antonio Trillanes IV in 2006.
It said that at the time, the Makati regional trial court approved the request of Trillanes to register as a voter, file his certificate of candidacy, cast his vote for the elections, and be proclaimed a senator-elect – which did not involve functions of the office, unlike in the case of Estrada. The Sandiganbayan noted that no less than the Supreme Court affirmed the regional trial court’s denial of Trillanes’ request involving the performance of his duties as a lawmaker.
Estrada is among the three senators who were absent during the first week of trial.
Senator Rodante Marcoleta was unable to participate due to his detention over plunder charges linked to the campaign donations he received when he was a public official, while Senator Bato dela Rosa is hiding from the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court.
Impeachment Court presiding officer Chiz Escudero previously maintained that the conviction threshold remains at 16 to meet the two-thirds requirement of the Senate, noting that the matter can be raised to the Supreme Court.
