Jinggoy Estrada seeks bail in flood control plunder case

Senator Jinggoy Estrada has asked the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to allow him to post bail for his temporary liberty pending the P573 million plunder case against him over alleged pocketing of kickbacks from government flood control projects.

Based on the Sandiganbayan court calendar, the anti-graft court will deliberate on Estrada’s urgent motion to fix bail, as well as his motion to be transferred to another detention facility, at 8:30 am on Thursday, June 4, 2026.

June 4 is the same day of Estrada's scheduled arraignment for plunder alongside his four other co-accused in the case.

His co-accused are former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, Department of Public Works and Highways-National Capital Region (DPWH-NCR) Assistant District Engineer Denryl Caesar Sanchez Cortuna, and DPWH NCR District Engineers Manny Bumagat Bulusan and Arturo Lombres Gonzales, Jr.

An arraignment is a court process wherein the accused in the case enters a guilty or not guilty plea on the charge.

If the accused refused to enter a plea, the anti-graft court will enter a not guilty plea in behalf of the accused.

Aside from plunder, Estrada, Bonoan and the three DPWH NCR officials are also facing a graft charge before the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division.

Estrada and Bonoan also have a separate graft case before the Sandiganbayan Second Division.—LDF, GMA News