On Thu, Jan 7, the Sandiganbayan junked the petition for bail of detained Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who has been detained at Camp Crame since Jun 2013 for his alleged involvement in the PHP10-billion pork barrel scam.
“The anti-graft court’s Fifth Division denied the petition because the Office of the Ombudsman was reportedly able to provide strong evidence of guilt against Estrada in support of its claim that he should be held liable for graft and plunder for receiving PHP183 million in kickbacks from Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam,” reports Marlon Ramos in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The report noted: “In its 215-page resolution, the court gave credence to the testimonies of principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy, socialite Ruby Tuason and other state witnesses who admitted participating in the elaborate scam perpetrated by the fake nongovernment organizations (NGOs) founded by Napoles.”
Part of the Ombudsman’s statement read, “That the whistle-blowers were told of how Senator Estrada’s PDAF was allocated is relevant in their testimony on how the bogus NGOs operated as they were all part of the grand scheme.”
