MANILA, Philippines – On June 1, Senator Jinggoy Estrada was placed in police custody after the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan’s 5th Division ordered his arrest for plunder and graft cases linked to the flood control corruption scandal.
Estrada surrendered to agents of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, was brought to Camp Crame for booking procedures, and then headed to the Sandiganbayan for the return of warrant and commitment order before proceeding to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas for his detention.
After Estrada left the Senate, Vice President Sara Duterte‘s legal team handed over to Senate Secretary and concurrent Impeachment Court Clerk of Court Jose Luis Montales the veep’s answer asking the court to junk the articles of impeachment against her, claiming “they suffer from fatal constitutional, procedural, and substantive defects.”
On June 3, after two days of boycott by the majority bloc, Senator Chiz Escudero joined the Senate minority to help constitute a quorum and pave the way for the convening of a plenary session. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was elected as the new Senate president pro tempore and acting Senate president.
Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that the latest Senate leadership shake-up did not affect his grip on the Senate presidency, but the new majority led by Gatchalian cited the approved motion to declare all elected seats in the Senate vacant and cited jurisprudence to support the legitimacy of their actions.
