MANILA. Senator Jinggoy Estrada has filed an omnibus motion before the Sandiganbayan seeking clarification on the validity and factual basis of the cases filed against him, according to his lawyer, Atty. Noel Ostrea.
The motion follows the issuance of an arrest warrant by the Sandiganbayan Second Division in connection with a graft case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against Estrada and former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan over alleged anomalous flood control projects.
The anti-graft court's Second Division, chaired by Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg, also issued a hold departure order against Estrada, Bonoan, and co-accused Engineers Denryl Cortuna, Arturo Gonzales Jr., and Manny Bulosan.
Estrada posted bail amounting to P90,000 on May 29, 2026. He denied the charges, calling them baseless and untrue.
In a statement on Monday, June 1, 2026, Estrada urged the court to “first give due consideration to the motions I have already filed and to uphold the principles of due process.”
“Simultaneous with my posting of bail on the graft charges last Friday, my lawyers immediately filed pleadings before the Sandiganbayan seeking the consolidation of the cases and the deferment of the issuance of any arrest warrant. Today, my legal team filed a third pleading -- an Urgent Omnibus Motion Ad Cautelam -- praying that the information be quashed; the case be dismissed with prejudice, or, in the alternative, that the proceedings be suspended and the case remanded for reinvestigation and/or the completion of the preliminary investigation,” he said.
He emphasized his entitlement to legal remedies, including filing a motion for reconsideration, “especially considering that I received a copy of the Ombudsman resolution on the plunder case only on Friday evening.”
“It is only fair and just that I be afforded the opportunity to fully exercise these legal remedies before any coercive measures are taken against me,” he said.
“This is not an evasion of legal responsibility, but a stand for my right to due process and the opportunity to present and be heard in the proper manner. I am fully determined to face this case and prove that the accusations against me are baseless,” he added in Filipino.
A plunder complaint was also filed against Estrada and his co-accused, raffled to the Sandiganbayan 5th Division.
The Ombudsman earlier stated that the charges stemmed from the “intricate mechanism, illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations within the DPWH infrastructure portfolio for fiscal year 2025.”
Prosecutors claimed around P573 million in alleged kickbacks were delivered to Estrada after funneling funds into designated infrastructure projects.
