Jinggoy Estrada to sue Brice Hernandez over kickback allegations

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said that he would file a case against former Bulacan assistant district engineer Hernandez over the latter's allegations in a House congressional inquiry that he received a 30% kickback from P355 million worth of allocations.

At the hearing of the House Infrastructure Committee, Brice Alcantara also showed pictures of the senator with former Bulacan First District Engineer Henry Alcantara, and screenshots of messaging conversations of an alleged member of his staff.

“Yes, sa sampahan ko ng kaso yan (I will file a case against him). I have to talk to my lawyers,” Estrada said.

“Nagalit talaga ako. Talagang napamura ako. Napakasinungaling nitong taong to. Because first of all, hinding hindi ko siya kilala, and I have never met that guy," he added.

(I was really angry. I even cursed. That person is a liar. Because first of all, I never knew him and I have never met that guy.)

"Just common sense. Will you think I will be actively participating in this investigation na nandun siya, na kilala ko siya, na nagbibigay siya ng pera sa akin," Estrada said.

"That's common sense. I should have abstained from that hearing, from this hearing. Malakas ang loob ko dahil I never, I did not commit any illegal act,” he added. 

(Just common sense. Do you think I would be actively participating in this investigation if I knew him, if he were giving me money? That's common sense. I should have abstained from the hearing. I was confident because I never committed any illegal act.)

Estrada also said he could not recall the event where he had a picture taken with Alcantara, one of the people tagged in the controversy that exposed ghost and substandard flood control projects in the province.

As regards the screengrabbed images of conversations by a supposed member of his staff, Estrada said that he had no staffer named Beng Ramos since he entered the Senate in 2004. He said the person was a staff member of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. 

"She was never my staff in my office and I never authorized her at kahit sino man (or anyone else),” he added. 

Estrada, however, admitted that Ramos was a former girlfriend of one of his staff members. –NB, GMA Integrated News