Jinggoy Estrada Reveals How Ombudsman Tried To Extort Money From Him Before He Was Jailed

Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada is one of the Senators who were charged with Graft and Plunder in connection with the Pork Barrel scam scandal.

Just last month, Estrada was granted by the Sandiganbayan Special Fifth Division his motion for bail. He reportedly paid P1.33M to be let out. The motion was granted after the prosecutor failed to present any evidence that he is the "main plunderer."

In the Philippines, Graft charges is punishable by 6-10 years in prison and is bailable. Plunder on the other hand is not bailable and is punishable by life imprisonment.

On Monday, Estrada claimed in the early 2013, before he was charged and imprisoned in the mid 2014, that there was an Ombudsman field investigator who tried to extort money from him in order to downgrade his charges.

“Para babaan daw yung kaso ko; imbis na plunder, graft na lang daw. Sabi ko, sige, tuloy niyo na ‘kako, wala akong tinatago"

He also mentioned that it was not directly through him, but through an emissary.

“Hindi naman directly sa ‘kin, through an emissary. Humihingi sila ng pera sa ‘kin. ‘Di ako pumayag, dahil alam ko malinis ang konsensya ko."

When asked about it, he said it was useless to testify at the fact-finding commission that was proposed by President Rodrigo Duterte, as it is if he initiates his own case.

“It’s useless. Noon talagang walang ano, talagang halos lahat ng tao, ni-brainwash ng nakaraang administrasyon na magnanakaw kami kaya wala kaming kalaban-laban. Ngayon, unti unti nang lumalabas na pinili kami."

Asked about Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, Estrada said that she has a "one-track-mind" so he did not really bother telling her.

“Eh si Ombudsman Morales parang one track mind yan eh. Wala pang kaso, ni-prejudge na kami na guilty na kami. Pa’no ko susumbong ko sa kanya?"

Meanwhile, during the first day of trial for Estrada's plunder case, the prosecutor presented Mae Castillon, acting chief of the compliance section of the Bureau of Internal Revenue district office.

The submission of Estrada's income tax returns (ITRs) from 2007 to 2012 was testified by Castillon.

According to the reports, these ITRs show that Estrada's annual income tax payments ranged from P1-M to P5-M.

However, the income tax payments in these documents "pale in comparison" to Estrada's declared wealth according to his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) which ranged from P83-M to P195-M during those years. This is according to Office of the Special Prosecutor director Ma. Christina Marallag-Batacan.

According to Batacan, the disparaty of Estrada's tax payments compared to his declared wealth would be proof  "whether or not the income there in the SALN is a result of the kickbacks."

Estrada is being accused of having 183-M worth of kickback when he allocated portions of his Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) or pork barrel funds to non-government organizations which turned out to be bogus and manned by the pork barrel queen, Janet Lim-Napoles.


Source: Inquirer