Sandigan says evidence strong enough to convict Jinggoy of plunder, trial to continue

Jinggoy’s plunder trial to proceed

MANILA, Philippines (Update 2 3:09 p.m.) — The plunder trial of former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada will proceed after the Sandiganbayan rejected his plea seeking the case’s dismissal without presenting counter-evidence.

Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division Friday rejected Estrada and his co-accused Janet Lim-Napoles’ demurrer to evidence in the government’s plunder case over the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.

A demurrer to evidence is a pleading that challenges the sufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence against the accused. It paves the way for the dismissal of the case halfway through the trial, without the accused having to present their counter-evidence.

With the denial of Estrada’s motion, his camp would have to present their evidence to counter the prosecution’s arguments and a full-blown trial would proceed.

The anti-graft court said the Office of the Ombudsman’s prosecution team presented evidence strong enough to convict Estrada of plunder if they fail to rebut them with their counter-exhibits.

Sandiganbayan Fifth Division denies ex-Sen. Jinggoy Estrada & Janet Lim-Napoles' demurrer to evidence seeking the dismissal of their plunder case over PDAF scam. Court says prosecution team of @OmbudsmanPh was able to present strong evidence. | @marcelo_beth pic.twitter.com/w9biq4cPEs — The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) June 14, 2019

Estrada is accused of amassing P183-million worth of kickbacks for funneling his PDAF to bogus non-government organizations linked to Napoles. Estrada had repeatedly denied having any transaction with Napoles concerning his pork barrel.

Napoles, a businesswoman, is believed to be the mastermind behind the multi-billion scam.

In December, the Sandiganbayan convicted Napoles for plunder in a separate case involving the PDAF allocations of Senator-elect Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Revilla was acquitted.

Estrada ran and lost in the 2019 midterm elections under the administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago slate. Revilla was on the same slate with Estrada, but the prior won in the elections with 14,624,445 votes. — Kristine Joy Patag with a report from The STAR/Elizabeth Marcelo