Philippine Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada was arrested on Monday, June 1, on plunder charges linked to the flood control corruption scandal that has triggered public outrage.
The Sandiganbayan, the country’s anti-graft court, ordered his detention for the non-bailable offence.
Prosecutors alleged he received $9.2 million in kickbacks from flood control projects in exchange for inserting allocations in the 2025 national budget.
Detained over flood control corruption
Estrada is now the highest-ranking government official to be detained in the flood control corruption issue that sparked massive protests in the country.
Apart from him, the Sandiganbayan also ordered the arrest of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials and staff: Secretary Manuel Bonoan and engineers Denryl Caesar Cortuna, Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr.
Plunder in the Philippines is not bailable and is punishable by life imprisonment.
Graft cases, however, may be bailable depending on the strength of evidence. The senator posted bail after the court issued a graft warrant on May 29.
READ MORE: Hegseth urges Asian allies to rely less on US for security
Estrada vows to face charges
Estrada surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Monday, stating that he will face the cases “head-on.”
“I will not yield to threats. I will not be intimidated. I will not be pressured into surrendering my independence of judgment,” he said, as reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“Above all, I will not place myself under Senate custody. I will not seek Senate custody. I will not use the Senate as a shield against the allegations being levelled against me.”
The senator is now detained at Quezon City Jail in Payatas after surrendering to police and forgoing Senate protective custody.
This is his third high-profile plunder charge after his acquittal in 2001, with his father, former President Joseph Estrada, and in 2014 over the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Japan population sees record five-year drop: census
Detention hits Senate majority bloc
Estrada is part of the new Senate majority bloc that has been at the centre of controversies after the shootout that happened in the Senate building last May 13.
Before his detention, he claimed he had been offered deals to have the cases against him dropped in exchange for leaving the 13-member Senate majority bloc led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, but said he refused.
“But I did not accept,” Estrada said. “My conviction to remain with my colleagues in the Independent majority bloc prevailed.”
He declined to identify who made the offers, saying, “You’ll just have to wait for the next chapter,” and added that “what is at stake is the independence of the Senate itself.”
The majority bloc senators secured control of the 24-member chamber on May 11, ahead of next month’s impeachment trial of their ally, Vice President Sara Duterte.
Duterte was impeached last month by the House of Representatives in a landslide vote on charges of corruption, unexplained wealth and an alleged assassination plot against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Another member of the Senate majority bloc, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, has gone into hiding after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant over alleged crimes against humanity linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Dela Rosa and Estrada’s absence means that they will not be able to sit as judges for the vice president’s Senate trial.
READ NEXT: Music news: Olivia Rodrigo calls babydoll dress backlash ‘weird’, ‘disturbing’
Andre Alfonso R. Gutierrez 
Eugene Nicklaus S. Laqui 
Diana Mae Y. Cleto