Jinggoy to leave detention for medical procedure

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – With no objections coming from the prosecution, the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has allowed Senator Jinggoy Estrada to leave his detention for 4 hours this week to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure.

During Estrada’s bail hearing Monday, September 22, before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, one of the senator’s lawyers, Noel Malaya, handed a letter to Justice Roland Jurado and informed the bench that his client needed an MRI.

Estrada later on told reporters that the procedure is due to his recurring pain in the left shoulder, which he has long been experiencing but worsened while in detention.

Jurado granted the request in open court, while Justice Alexander Gesmundo directed Estrada’s camp to submit to the court the result of the MRI. 

The senator was initially scheduled to be at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center (CSMC) on September 24 from 9 am to 12 noon. He was supposed to leave the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, where he is detained, at 8 am.

Following changes in the schedule raised by Malaya a day later in a September 23 hearing, Estrada’s furlough is now at 10 am until 2pm on the same day.

CSMC is a private hospital in San Juan City, where the senator was a long-time mayor like his father before he became senator.

In detention for 3 months now, Estrada is charged with plunder and graft for allegedly financially benefitting from the diversion of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel to ghost projects hosted in paper by private non-profit foundations.

The non-governmental organizations were allegedly controlled by Janet Lim-Napoles, who cornered millions in PDAF proceeds by giving lawmakers like Estrada commissions each time they endorsed one of her NGOs. (READ: Napoles lawyers: Holy Spirit is lead counsel)

Luy almost cited in contempt

During the Monday hearing, PDAF scam primary whistleblower Benhur Luy was almost cited in contempt by Justice Jurado.

Estrada’s lawyer Sabino Acut Jr was constantly objecting against Luy’s answers to prosecutor Janina Hidalgo’s questions, as they were already in the form of a narration instead of a direct answer.

“How many times will the court have to tell you? Next time I will cite you for contempt,” Jurado told Luy, while the latter was on the witness stand.

Hidalgo was also forced to reform many of her questions during direct examination of the witness, after objections were sustained for their vagueness, among others.

“Why don’t you ask a point-blank question?” Gesmundo asked the prosecutor. “Go direct to the point,” Jurado also ordered.

“Assuming there’s a point,” Acut added, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

At one point, Gesmundo had to rephrase the questions of the prosecutor and ask them himself. “We appreciate that, Your Honor,” Acut stood up to say at the time.

Estrada’s conduits

Luy also corroborated the claim of another state witness Ruby Tuason that she and actor Mat Ranillo III served as bagman for Estrada’s rebates from the misuse of his development funds.

While Ranillo has yet to apply as state witness, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima indicated earlier in the year that his cooperation is “welcome” if his testimony adds value to the government’s case.

Luy said Tuason collected from Napoles in behalf of Estrada for the year 2004. Ranillo then collected for the senator in 2005. (READ: DOJ to probe Mat Ranillo III in PDAF scam)

By 2008, Estrada’s former aide and co-accused Pauline Labayen dealt with Napoles. A year later until 2012, both Labayen and Estrada were directly going to Napoles for the rebates. (READ: Estrada signed PDAF letter at Napoles’ party – Luy)

Luy further testified that no purchases and deliveries were made for Estrada’s projects covered by his cases before the Sandiganbayan. 

He added that Napoles’ employees including himself merely faked acceptance certifications from local government units and forged signatures of supposed beneficiaries.

As in the cases of Senator Ramon Revilla Jr, who is also detained for the pork barrel scam, Luy said Napoles’ employees were forced to use both their right and left hands in forging the signatures.

Jurado listened to this portion of Luy’s testimony laughing.

Defense lawyers for Napoles and Estrada expressed yet again their continuing objection that Luy’s testimony is mere hearsay. – Rappler.com