Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) — The granting of bail to former senator Jinggoy Estrada will not affect other plunder cases pending at the Sandiganbayan, according to the Ombudsman’s Special Prosecutor.
“Dito sa case ni Estrada, he was charged in conspiracy with Napoles which we can consider the main plunderer and in conspiracy the ruling, it has been echoed and re-echoed in the jungle of criminal jurisprudence, that in case of conspiracy, the act of one is act of all,” Edilberto Sandoval said Tuesday.
Sandoval made the statement days after Estrada walked out of Camp Crame where he was detained for more than three years over allegations he received ₱183 million in kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel funds.
READ: Jinggoy Estrada posts bail for plunder case
Sandoval heads all prosecutors under the Office of the Ombudsman handling cases against public officials at the Sandiganbayan.
The special prosecutor said he does not see a “sweeping application” of the main plunderer concept, the ground used in the granting of bail to Estrada, saying it cannot be applied to the pork barrel scam case.
Aside from Estrada, former senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile Sr. are also facing plunder and graft charges before the Sandiganbayan.
Revilla remains in detention after Enrile posted a P1.45 million bail in August 2015.
The Supreme Court first used the concept in acquitting former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of plunder for allegedly misusing state lottery funds.
The Sandiganbayan 5th Division allowed Estrada to post bail on September 15 saying prosecutors failed to establish the elements of plunder as they did not identify him as the “main plunderer” in the alleged fraud.
READ: Jinggoy Estrada out on bail after 3 years in detention
Sandoval remains hopeful Sandiganbayan justices are impartial.
“I still trust the Sandiganbayan justices cannot be controlled by politics”, he said.
Sandoval was Sandiganbayan presiding justice in 2010. He was among the justices who voted to approve a plea bargain deal with military comptroller Carlos Garcia.
Garcia was involved in a 2011 corruption scandal in the Armed Forces of the Philippines for a supposed “pabaon” system where funds from the military were given as send-off gifts to retiring generals.
He was appointed to the Office of the Ombudsman last July 2017.
As state prosecutors are expected to appeal the decision granting Estrada bail, Sandoval says he is confident they can have the ruling reversed.
