By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is pushing back against the government’s attempt to remove former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan as his co-accused, warning that the move could fundamentally change the case against him and undermine his constitutional right to a fair defense.
Estrada’s lawyers asked the Sandiganbayan on Wednesday to reject the prosecution’s bid to amend the graft case and discharge Bonoan so he can cooperate with the government as a state witness in the continuing investigation into alleged corruption in flood-control projects.
The defense argued that dropping Bonoan from the case would not be a simple procedural adjustment.
Instead, it would alter the prosecution’s theory of the case after Estrada had already been arraigned, his lawyers said.
Estrada’s camp pointed to the Sandiganbayan’s earlier ruling rejecting the Ombudsman’s attempt to remove Bonoan as a co-accused.
The anti-graft court had held that substantial amendments to the charge sheet could no longer be made because Estrada had already entered his plea on June 4.
The senator’s lawyers maintained that allowing the prosecution to proceed with the proposed amendment would leave Estrada defending a substantially different accusation from the one he originally answered in court.
“The proposed amendment does not ‘merely’ remove accused Bonoan as a co-accused; it alters the prosecution’s theory.”
According to the defense, Estrada had prepared his case based on the existing information and on the possibility that he and Bonoan could pursue a coordinated defense.
Removing Bonoan, they argued, could force Estrada to rethink his entire defense strategy midway through the proceedings.
The senator’s lawyers warned that a substantial alteration of the information could violate due process and place an additional burden on Estrada as he prepares to confront the allegations.
They argued that the prosecution should not be allowed to effectively reshape the case after arraignment in a way that could prejudice the accused.
The dispute comes as the government seeks to turn Bonoan into a key cooperating witness in its broader investigation of alleged anomalies involving flood-control projects.
Despite the Sandiganbayan’s refusal to immediately remove him as a co-accused in Estrada’s graft case, Bonoan has already appeared as a witness in the separate malversation case involving former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
Bonoan is scheduled to return to the witness stand before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on September 1.
For Estrada, however, the battle is no longer simply about whether Bonoan can become a government witness.
It is also about whether the prosecution can change the legal battlefield after the accused has already entered his plea.
The Sandiganbayan will have to weigh the government’s interest in securing Bonoan’s cooperation against Estrada’s claim that removing a co-accused at this stage would fundamentally alter the case he has been preparing to defend.
ia/xf
