Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

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/17836439337671774309276559Screen Shot 2026-03-24 at 7.41.03 AM (5).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senator Jinggoy Estrada gets teary-eyed during a press conference at the Senate Building on June 1, 2026, as he announces his surrender in connection with the plunder case filed against him. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATE)</strong> — The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has denied Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s bid to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte due to a lack of merit.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/6/cayetano-wants-marcoleta-jinggoy-at-duterte-impeachment-trial-1748">Cayetano wants Marcoleta, Jinggoy at Duterte impeachment trial</a></div><p>The division, chaired by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses, handles Estrada’s plunder case over the alleged flood control kickback scheme. </p><p>Estrada, who is currently detained at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas, argued that his participation in the trial as a senator-judge was a &quot;high constitutional duty&quot; that justified a temporary leave from imprisonment. </p><p>He argued that the constitutional two-thirds voting threshold required for an impeachment conviction means &quot;his vote counts&quot;. </p><p>He also maintained that preventive detention does not cause his senatorial term to cease.</p><p>Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday asked the Senate impeachment court to consider allowing Estrada and Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, both detained for plunder cases,to  attend the trial of Duterte.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/1/jinggoy-estrada-questions-plunder-graft-raps-in-omnibus-motions-1047">Jinggoy Estrada questions plunder, graft raps in omnibus motions</a></div><p>Cayetano said during the opening of the trial that Marcoleta and Estrada should be allowed to attend the proceedings against Duterte since they may yet get to vote if their cases are dismissed or if they are granted bail.</p><p>However, the court on Thursday emphasized that a public official under preventive detention cannot perform official functions unless released on bail or recognizance.</p><p>&quot;Let it be stressed that all prisoners whether under preventive detention or serving final sentence can not practice their profession nor engage in any business or occupation, or hold office, elective or appointive, while in detention,&quot; the court said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;RECURRING ARRANGEMENT CANNOT BE CONSIDERED EMERGENCY&#x27;</strong></div><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/178364730851520260602-jinggoy-estrada-arraignment-JC3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senator Jinggoy Estrada, heavily escorted by BJMP personnel, emerges from the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City after appearing for his arraignment on graft charges alongside former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan on June 2, 2026. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em><br/></span></span></span></div><p>It further noted that according to a Senate Pre-Trial Order, the Vice President&#x27;s impeachment trial is scheduled to run three days a week for a total of 92 trial days across 31 weeks.</p><p>The court pointed out that granting Estrada’s request would mean allowing a &quot;continuing and recurring leave&quot; rather than a temporary emergency release.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/16/sandiganbayan-orders-jinggoy-estrada-s-suspension-1555">Sandiganbayan places Estrada under 90-day preventive suspension</a></div><p>&quot;Such a prolonged and recurring arrangement cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered an emergency or compelling temporary leave from detention,&quot; the resolution read.</p><p>&quot;To grant such request would substantially erode the very restraints that lawful detention necessarily entails,” it added.</p><p>The court added that allowing Estrada to attend congressional sessions regularly &quot;would virtually make him a free man with all the privileges appurtenant to his position,&quot; which would elevate his status to a special class and make a &quot;mockery of the purposes of the correction system.&quot;</p><p>Estrada is facing a 90-day preventive suspension ordered by the Sandiganbayan Second Division on June 16, which the Senate began implementing on June 22.</p><p>He also faces graft before the court’s Second Division.</p><div><br/></div><div><em></em><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><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/aqyeW1vxMBE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><em></em><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/2FPHbIzVu-Y?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has denied Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s bid to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte due to a lack of merit.</p>

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has denied Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s bid to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte due to a lack of merit.

Sandiganbayan rejects Jinggoy's bid to attend VP Sara impeachment trial

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Sandiganbayan rejects Jinggoy's bid to attend VP Sara impeachment trial

Kaxandra Salonga,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 10, 2026 08:42 AM PHT

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Updated July 10, 2026 09:36 AM PHT

Read More:

jinggoy

jinggoy estrada

sara duterte

impeachment trial

plunder

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