Estrada camp questions PHDO before Manila court

Senator Jinggoy Estrada has asked a Manila court to lift the precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) issued against him amid the plunder complaint he is facing with the Department of Justice, with his spokesperson saying that he is not a flight risk.

In an ambush interview, Estrada spokesperson Bianca Soriano said they filed an omnibus motion asking the court to reconsider the issuance of the order as well as a motion to lift the order on Wednesday.

“It should be lifted because the rules require that there should probable cause, and second that the respondent is a flight risk,” she said.

“So we already attacked the evidentiary nature that there is no probable cause… and second, that respondent Senator Jinggoy Estrada is not a flight risk. As we’ve seen in Sandiganbayan, he has been complying with the necessary requirements for him to be able to travel,” she added. 

In February, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 52 ordered the issuance of a PHDO against Estrada, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan, former DPWH undersecretaries Maria Catalina Cabral and Roberto Bernardo, former DPWH regional director Gerard Opulencia, and former district engineer Henry Alcantara.

Counter-affidavit

Accompanied by his lawyers, Estrada personally appeared before the DOJ to file his counter-affidavit on his plunder complaint.

Soriano said the complaint was for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, plunder, and indirect and direct bribery.

“Of course, we attacked it based on procedural rules, specifically on the requirements of a complaint affidavit, because what NBI filed is a letter attached in an affidavit,” she said.

“And then, we also discussed the admissibility and the credibility of the evidence, which will not be able to meet the threshold required for criminal cases before the DOJ or the Ombudsman,” she added.

Aside from this, she said they addressed the alleged inconsistencies of the statements of state witnesses Alcantara and Bernardo.

“Unahin natin ‘yung sinabi ni Henry Alcantara na si Bernardo ‘yung nagtanong kung meron pa siyang projects. And then we see Bernardo’s statements or affidavit naman saying na it was Alcantara who offered that list of projects,” she said.

Meanwhile, Soriano said Estrada is confident that his cases will be dismissed. —AOL, GMA Integrated News