Philippine court orders arrest of senator over graft scandal

A PHILIPPINE court on Friday ordered the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada after he was charged for allegedly receiving millions of pesos in an infrastructure corruption scheme.

An arrest warrant was issued against Estrada for his graft case, according to the Sandiganbayan, a special court for corruption cases. The senator went to the court to personally post a 90,000-peso (S$1,865) bail. 

There was no immediate update on his separate plunder case, for which he can’t post bail if the court orders his arrest.

Estrada denied the allegations against him in a statement on his Facebook page, and added that he is hoping for a fair trial. “Posting bail is a legal remedy available to me under our justice system, and I intend to avail myself of every lawful means to defend myself and clear my name,” he said.

The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday filed the charges against Estrada before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly receiving more than 573 million pesos in “illicit payouts.”

He’s the highest-ranking public official to be sued for allegedly siphoning off funds intended for flood infrastructure in the typhoon-prone nation.

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The lawmaker was previously embroiled in another alleged corruption scheme involving lawmakers’ discretionary funds, but was acquitted of plunder charges. He’s the son of former President Joseph Estrada who was jailed for plunder and later on pardoned. REUTERS