MANILA – Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s plea to access preliminary investigation records from the Ombudsman in his legislative fund misuse cases has been denied by the Sandiganbayan.
The Fifth Division of the anti-graft court, in a March 12 resolution authored by Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Mañalac, ruled that Estrada’s motion lacked legal basis and reaffirmed its prior decision. Justices Zaldy Trespeses and Gener Gito agreed with the ruling.
The court explained that Estrada did not adequately show why the records were necessary, failed to identify specific documents, and did not clarify how they were relevant to his defense. “The motion is general and fails to properly describe the documents intended for submission as evidence,” the resolution read.
“Consequently, the motion is denied, and the court sees no reason to overturn its previous ruling,” it added.
These cases are separate from Estrada’s earlier plunder allegations involving PHP200 million in PDAF kickbacks, for which he was acquitted in 2024.
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