Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Senator Jinggoy Estrada arrives at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City on June 2, 2026, for his arraignment on graft charges involving allegedly anomalous flood control projects before the court’s Second Division. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

FLOOD CONTROL- Estrada/ Bonoan

Kaxandra Salonga

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178280548542620260602-jinggoy-estrada-arraignment-JC1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senator Jinggoy Estrada arrives at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City on June 2, 2026, for his arraignment on graft charges involving allegedly anomalous flood control projects before the court’s Second Division. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATE)</strong> — The Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of three DPWH-NCR officials who are co-accused of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in plunder and graft charges over the alleged flood control kickback scheme.</p><p>In a resolution promulgated on Monday, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division ordered DPWH engineers Arturo Gonzales Jr., Denryl Caesar Cortuna, and Manny Bulusan to &quot;cease and desist from further performing and/or exercising the functions, duties and privileges of their positions&quot;.</p><p>The accused previously argued that a preventive suspension was unnecessary and &quot;moot&quot; because they are currently detained at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas, which already physically prevents them from performing their official functions.</p><p>However, the anti-graft court clarified that detention does not legally substitute for the statutory mandate of a suspension pending litigation.</p><p>&quot;Once the information is found to be sufficient in form and substance, then the court must issue the order of suspension as a matter of course. There are no ifs and buts about it,&quot; read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses.</p><p>The court further said that although detention places physical limitations, it does not impose the legal constraints intended by law.</p><p>&quot;While it is true that detention places a rigid restraint on the accused&#x27;s actions... this does not impose the absolute restriction mandated under Section 13 of R.A. [3019], which prohibits the accused from performing the functions that their detention merely renders them physically unable to perform,&quot; the resolution stated.</p><p>The court reiterated that a preventive suspension is not a penalty but a legal precaution to prevent accused officials from hampering their prosecution by intimidating or influencing witnesses, tampering with documentary evidence, or committing further acts of malfeasance while in office.</p><p>The court has directed the Secretary of the DPWH to implement the 90-day suspension immediately upon receipt of the notice.</p><p>Estrada and his co-accused were set to be arraigned on Tuesday, but the court reset the proceedings to July 28 after prosecutors filed a motion seeking to amend the information to discharge former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan from the charges.</p><p>This comes after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced that Bonoan would be dropped from the charges against him and turned into a state witness.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CTz8aDj5HNQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of three DPWH-NCR officials who are co-accused of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in plunder and graft charges over the alleged flood control kickback scheme.</p>

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of three DPWH-NCR officials who are co-accused of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in plunder and graft charges over the alleged flood control kickback scheme.

Sandiganbayan orders 90-day preventive suspension of Estrada’s 3 co-accused

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Sandiganbayan orders 90-day preventive suspension of Estrada’s 3 co-accused

Kaxandra Salonga,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 30, 2026 03:37 PM PHT

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Updated June 30, 2026 03:46 PM PHT

Read More:

Sandiganbayan

dpwh

jinggoy estrada

plunder

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