A Philippine senator surrendered to police yesterday after a court ordered his arrest over a charge that he received kickbacks as part of an infrastructure corruption scandal that erupted into large public protests last year.
The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada for plunder, a non-bailable offense under Philippine law. This came after the Office of the Ombudsman last week charged Estrada with violating anti-corruption laws for taking “kickbacks” amounting to 573 million pesos ($9.3 million) from flood control projects.
Estrada also faces two counts of graft related to the scandal, for which he posted bail after an arrest warrant was issued on May 29. A charge of plunder can only be pursued if the amount of misappropriated funds in question total at least 50 million pesos ($808,000).
Estrada has denied the allegations, which are based on the testimony of a former government public works engineer, but said that he would surrender to police rather than seek the protective custody of the Senate, Rappler reported.
“I will defend myself till the end,” Estrada told a press conference yesterday. “I am ready to defend myself before the court and I will not hide behind the institution to evade the process,” he added.
