Defense asks Sandiganbayan to let Jinggoy Estrada wear plain clothes in court hearings

Senator Jinggoy Estrada has asked the Sandiganbayan to let him attend court hearings for his plunder and graft cases wearing plain clothes instead of a Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) uniform.

Estrada’s lawyer Noel Ostrea made the appeal before the anti-graft court’s Second Division where Estrada and his co-accused, former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, was supposed to enter their plea on graft charges in connection with the flood control mess.

“Considering that he (Estrada) voluntarily surrendered, we are asking the court if he could appear as a regular person and not as ordinary accused in BJMP uniform and handcuffs,” Ostrea said.

The lawyer was referring to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which has jurisdiction over the New Quezon City Jail.

Estrada – who is detained for a separate plunder case pending before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division – appeared before the Sandiganbayan Second Division on Tuesday, wearing a yellow BJMP detainee uniform.

The BJMP uniform is emblazoned with a text that reads “BJMP: Changing Lives, Building a Safer Nation.”

In response, Sandiganbayan Second Division chair and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg said Estrada should submit a motion or pleading to formalize his request.

Econg noted that by filing a motion, the prosecution will also be able to respond to the justifications of the Estrada camp for the request to let Estrada wear plain clothes.

She said “it is the first time” that the court received such a request.

In 2001 and 2014, Estrada faced separate plunder and related charges over an alleged jueteng payola and the alleged misuse of his discretionary Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

The Sandiganbayan acquitted him in both of these cases. — JMA, GMA News