Jinggoy Estrada asks for leave to attend daughter’s miting de avance

Janella Ejercito (left), Senator Jinggoy Estrada's daughter, is the running mate of San Juan Mayor Guia Gomez (middle).

While the Sandiganbayan has yet to decide on his request to vote in San Juan and to undergo a medical check up in a private hospital, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Monday filed another motion for leave from his detention, this time, to attend his daughter’s miting de avance.

In an urgent motion filed before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, Estrada, through his legal counsels, asked that he be allowed to temporarily leave his detention on Saturday, May 7 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to attend the miting de avance of his daughter Janella Ejercito at the Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan City.

Janella is running for vice mayor of San Juan City with re-electionist San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez as her running mate.

Estrada said Janella personally appealed to him to file the motion in order to be present in her meeting de avance in light of the May 9 elections.

“Accused-movant now appeals to the court that he be allowed to attend the meeting  de avance of his daughter,” Estrada’s motion read.

“He makes this appeal to the court with the hope that the court and the prosecution will understand the need for a father to do all the pleas and motion to the court to be part of his daughters desire to be a public servant of the City of San Juan,” he added.

Estrada is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City for plunder and graft charges in connection with his alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

Estrada promised to shoulder all the expenses to be incurred by the PNP Custodial Center in his security and transportation to and from the Pinaglabanan Shrine.

The Fifth Division had earlier junked Estrada’s motion to attend the proclamation rally of Janella on April 2.

Just last week, Estrada also filed a motion asking the Fifth Division to allow him to leave his detention on May 9 to cast his vote in San Juan as well as to undergo a medical check-up “as soon as possible” due to shoulder pain.

The court has yet to rule on his motions for leave. —NB, GMA News