By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — Detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada has formally opposed the prosecution’s bid to drop former Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan as his co-accused in a graft case, arguing that the move would substantially weaken the senator’s legal defense and alter the theory of the case pending before the Sandiganbayan.
During Tuesday’s hearing before the Sandiganbayan Second Division, Estrada’s legal team challenged the prosecution’s Motion for Leave to File Amended Information, filed on June 29, seeking Bonoan’s exclusion from the case to qualify him as a cooperating state witness in the government’s expanding investigation into alleged irregularities in flood control projects.
Lead defense counsel Laurence Arroyo argued that removing Bonoan from the criminal information would significantly prejudice Estrada because it would eliminate the allegation that both men conspired in committing the offense.
“It will alter the availability of defenses presently available to Senator Estrada,” Arroyo told the court.
He maintained that the amendment is not merely procedural but a substantial revision that directly affects the senator’s constitutional right to defend himself.
State Prosecutor Reza Casila-Derayunan, however, insisted that the amendment is only formal and would not change the nature of the allegations against Estrada.
“The accused still faces the same criminal case arising from the same set of facts,” Casila-Derayunan argued, adding that the factual basis of the prosecution’s case remains unchanged despite Bonoan’s proposed discharge.
The prosecution and the defense disagreed on whether the amendment would merely correct the information or fundamentally alter the case. While prosecutors described it as a formal amendment, Estrada’s lawyers maintained that it is a substantive change that could prejudice the defense.
After hearing both sides, Second Division Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg declared the matter submitted for resolution.
“The court has heard enough. We would like to render a full-blown resolution,” Econg said.
Bonoan remains under hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police General Hospital, while Estrada has been in detention since June 1.
Both officials were earlier arrested and charged with the non-bailable offense of plunder before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division over allegations that Estrada received P350 million in kickbacks from flood control projects in Metro Manila and Oriental Mindoro, as well as P213 million from projects in Bulacan during 2025.
The separate graft case pending before the Second Division specifically involves the alleged P213-million kickback from Bulacan flood control projects. Prosecutors alleged that the amount represented approximately 25 percent of the P855 million worth of government flood control contracts implemented in the province.
The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division is scheduled to hear on Wednesday a similar motion filed by state prosecutors seeking Bonoan’s discharge from the plunder case, a move that would also pave the way for him to testify as a cooperating witness in the broader flood control corruption investigation.
ia/xf
