Ombudsman on Jinggoy Estrada charges: Accountability, not politics

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano on Monday denied that the P573-million plunder and graft charges filed against Senator Jinggoy Estrada and his four other co-accused are politically motivated.

Clavano was responding to Estrada’s allegation that he was approached to abandon the Senate majority bloc in exchange for the charges against him being dropped.

“Walang sinumang pwedeng magdesisyon sa ngalan ng Ombudsman pagdating sa mga nakabinbing kaso, dahil ang paggawa nito ay maituturing ding isang uri ng korapsyon,” Clavano said in a statement.

“Matagal nang iniimbestigahan ang mga kasong ito. Sa katunayan, isinasapubliko naman ang bawat hakbang ng proseso,” he added.

(No one may make decisions in the Ombudsman's name when it comes to the cases on its docket; this itself would be a form or corruption. We have been investigating these cases for a long time, and in fact we make public every step of the process.)

Asst. Ombudsman Mico Clavano on Senator Jinggoy Estrada saying that plunder, graft cases filed vs him are politically motivated: Walang sinumang pwedeng magdesisyon sa ngalan ng Ombudsman pagdating sa mga nakabinbing kaso @gmanews

— Llanesca T. Panti (@llanescajourno) June 1, 2026

Clavano said politics should not be dragged into the issue of criminal cases.

“Hindi dapat kailanman pinaghahalo ang pananagutan at pulitika. Kung may mga taong nagtatangkang palabuin ang linya sa pagitan ng dalawang ito, dapat din silang panagutin,” he said.

(You must not mix accountability and politics. If there is someone trying to blur the line between the two, then they must also be held accountable.)

Prior to the filing of charges against Estrada, Ombudsman prosecutors filed three batches of criminal cases related to flood control projects:

• malversation and graft charges against resigned Ako Bicol Party-list congressman Zaldy Co and at least 15 others over a P289-million, allegedly substandard road dike project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro;
• malversation and graft charges against contractor Sarah Discaya and others over a P96.5-million "ghost" flood control project in Culaman, Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental; and
• malversation and graft charges against former senator Remon Bong Revilla, Jr., ex-Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez and five others over the alleged P92.8-million ghost flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.

— BM, GMA News