Sandiganbayan denies Jinggoy Estrada's appeal to dismiss plunder case

The plunder trial involving former Senator Jinggoy Estrada will continue after the Sandiganbayan upheld that there is basis for the case.

Members of the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division denied the appeal filed by Estrada's camp regarding their June decision to reject the ex-lawmaker'sIn a decision issued on Monday, the three-member court thumbed down Estrada's plea and said there was sufficient basis to keep him under trial for allegedly misusing his Priority Development Assistance Fund as a member of Congress. He reportedly pocketed ₱183.8 million from the scheme which also involves businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Estrada's camp cited the case of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who walked free from plunder raps regarding the supposed misuse of intelligence funds while in office. Like Arroyo's case, the his lawyers argued that state prosecutors did not identify"who the main plunderer is." But the justices ruled otherwise.

"It is clear that the main plunderer so to speak is no other than Estrada, having control over his PDAF and without his participation, the whole scheme would not have begun," the resolution read."The court division ruled that the former senator's repeated sending of endorsement letters to implementing agencies to assign bogus non-government organizations for pork-funded projects"started the whole PDAF scheme.

"Of all the accused in this case, the participation of Estrada is the most vital, as he served as the spark plug which ignited the complex PDAF scheme," the court added.for temporary freedom since 2017. He ran for senator in the midterm elections, but lost his bid for a seat.

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