rki.news | Source: Xinhua
MANILA, June 1 — Philippine Senator Jinggoy Estrada on Monday surrendered to police after the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan issued an arrest warrant in a plunder and graft case.
Estrada turned himself in to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police and told reporters he would not seek Senate custody, saying he was ready to face the legal process and defend himself in court.
“I will not hide behind the institution to evade the process,” he said during a press briefing.
The Sandiganbayan issued the warrant following a case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, which accused Estrada of allegedly receiving over 573 million pesos in kickbacks linked to irregularities in 2025 flood-control project funding allocations. Estrada has denied the allegations.
Court records say plunder is among the most serious corruption offenses under Philippine law and is non-bailable unless evidence of guilt is found weak.
Estrada also claimed he had been repeatedly offered opportunities to leave the independent majority bloc in exchange for dropping related cases, but said he refused and would remain with his group.
The case comes amid a wider corruption scandal involving flood-control projects that has triggered nationwide protests and calls for accountability in public spending.