THE Sandiganbayan has reaffirmed its decision to reject Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada’s attempt to dismiss 11 counts of graft related to the alleged misuse of P183 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
In a 22-page resolution, the anti-graft court’s Special Fifth Division denied Estrada’s motion for reconsideration, upholding its earlier ruling that found sufficient evidence to proceed with the cases.
The Sandiganbayan emphasized that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Estrada, citing his repeated endorsements of NGOs linked to businesswoman Janet Napoles as recipients of his PDAF.
The court stated that the frequency and recurrence of these actions, combined with other evidence, were enough to sustain a guilty verdict at this stage of the trial.
The court also dismissed Estrada’s argument that his acquittal in a related plunder case should lead to the dismissal of the graft charges, asserting that the two cases are distinct and require separate consideration of evidence. The Sandiganbayan highlighted the testimony of witness Ruby Tuason, who claimed to have informed Estrada of Napoles’ scheme and personally delivered money to him.
