Jinggoy Estrada: Take 2

MANILA, Philippines – Unlike his friend, fellow actor and fellow accused Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr, Senator Jinggoy Estrada turned himself in to the police without a song booming from a mobile sound system or a throng of sympathizers. 

There was no need to be dramatic. He’s been there, done that. The first time he was arrested for plunder, he got away scot-free. (READ: How Jinggoy got away in his first plunder charge)

Estrada’s surrender on Monday, June 23, (or “voluntary arrest” as the Philippine National Police would put it) was a family affair as his relatives – led by former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who was also charged with plunder alongside his son 13 years ago, and convicted for the crime  – accompanied him. 

Inside the younger Estrada’s house at Corinthian Hills, only select members of the media were allowed to go in. Access to Estrada and his family members was limited. When he left his home, his entire immediate family walked behind him while he held hands with his youngest daughter. 

With his daughter sitting on his lap, Estrada rode a white coaster on the way to his father’s house at Polk Street, Greenhills, San Juan.

The trip to Polk Street was not only meant to fetch his father before going to Crame. This was also where Estrada supposedly “surrendered” to Erap before he was turned over to the authorities.

Estrada’s lawyer Alexis Abastillas said such a procedure is allowed since the elder Estrada is a person of authority. For police spokesperson Theodore Sindac, it makes no difference since he would end up in police custody either way. “Maybe it’s because of his pride, so he can say that it was my father who turned me over to the police,” Sindac said. Thirteen years ago, father and son were also arrested in the same house for allegedly receiving payoffs from the illegal numbers game jueteng.  

Estrada’s booking process took much longer than Revilla’s, because Estrada chose to go straight to Crame instead of going to Sandiganbayan to return his warrant and claim his commitment order. His friends and family waited with him as police officials went to the anti-graft court for a copy of the commitment order. 

His father and his mother, Loi Ejercito Estrada, left Camp Crame earlier than the rest of his relatives and some friends, like actor Philip Salvador, who was also at Camp Crame when Revilla was arrested.

Before saying goodbye, Erap and Jinggoy embraced each other in front of the cameras – indeed a surreal moment. More than a decade ago, Erap was found guilty of plundering public funds, while Jinggoy emerged unscathed after the court found no sufficient evidence to pin him down. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo later pardoned the elder Estrada after he was convicted. 

 

Before getting inside the police car that would take him to the PNP Custodial Center, Estrada savored his last few minutes of freedom – for now – by stepping on the car as he blew kisses and waved at the media. 

Who knows what fate awaits him this time?

 

Photos by Ben Nabong and Rappler’s photo editor LeAnne Jazul. 

– Rappler.com