NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 02 November) — Senator Jinggoy Estrada has shown that greed is timeless and bottomless.
Charged in 2014 with eleven counts of graft involving fund anomalous releases from his PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) estimated at P255.11 million, he is now charged again for receiving kickbacks amounting to P335 million from the flood control projects in Bulacan.
Estrada petitioned the Supreme Court to dismiss the PDAF graft cases against him, arguing that they had been absorbed by the crime of plunder, which was dismissed by the anti-graft court.
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, October 28, dismissed Estrada’s petition for certiorari challenging his prosecution for graft, specifically rejecting his argument that the charges should be dropped because they were “absorbed” by his dismissed plunder case. The PDAF P180 million plunder case he shared with Napoles was dismissed by the Sandiganbayan on January 19, 2024, on account of reasonable doubt.
In its resolution promulgated during the Court’s en banc session on 28 October 2025, the high bench dismissed Estrada’s contention that his graft charges under Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 are “deemed absorbed” by his plunder charges under Republic Act No. 7080 (Anti-Plunder Law).
In dismissing Estrada’s petition, the high court ordered him prosecuted separately for 11 counts of graft, due to alleged irregularities in the disbursement of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2008 to 2010.
And like rubbing salt to his wounds, the Independent Commission on Infrastructure, on Wednesday, October 29, also recommended that the Office of the Ombudsman file a plunder complaint against Estrada over alleged corruption in receiving kickbacks worth P355 million from flood control projects in Bulacan.
If convicted for the 11 counts of violation of the anti-graft law, RA 3019, the beleaguered senator faces a sentence of a cumulative prison term of over 66 years if each count results in the maximum penalty.
On the other hand, if arrested for violating the anti-plunder law and the evidence against him is strong, Estrada may not be entitled to bail, and if convicted, he would be sentenced to life.
Indeed, when it rains, it pours. It’s a downpour for Estrada at the Sandiganbayan. The recidivist senator is not learning. The flood of his creation is rising fast and is now up to his neck. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental)