The Sandiganbayan has approved former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s request for a month-long trip to the United States with his family.

The anti-graft court’s Fifth Division in open court hearing on Monday approved Estrada’s motion to travel from April 30 to May 31 during the resumption of his plunder trial over his alleged involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

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Estrada earlier asked the court to allow him to attend a good governance conference, undergo a medical consultation, and go on vacation with his family.

In his motion to travel, Estrada said he had accepted the invitation as speaker for the May 20 meeting of US Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG), an organization headed by Filipino-American philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis.

In the letter attached to the motion, USP4GG president William Dechavez stated that members want to know about “extrajudicial killings, Dengvaxia mess and federalism plan.”

Estrada also said that he would seek consultation with Dr. Christopher Mow, an orthopedic surgeon of Stanford Hospital, for his “recurring shoulder problem.”

Estrada said that the vacation would also be a fulfilment of his promise to his family, especially to Julian, who graduated from OB Montessori last March 17, 2015.

The former lawmaker was released under temporary liberty after posting a P1.33-million bail on September 2017.

His release came after Sandiganbayan ruled that “there was no strong evidence” that Estrada was the “main plunderer” in the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.

The Sandiganbayan said that it was businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, tagged as the mastermind of the corruption scheme, who appeared to have the “extensive control” in the scam.

Last year, the court with a different composition of judges denied Estrada’s bail plea for lack of merit. /je

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