(Eagle News) — The Ombudsman has asked the Sandiganbayan to reconsider its decision that allowed former Senator Jinggoy Estrada to be out on bail.
In its motion for reconsideration, the Ombudsman asked the anti-graft court’s fifth division to “review, reconsider and set aside” its Sept. 15 resolution that allowed Estrada to be temporarily released “upon the submission and approval of bail in the amount of (over) P1 million to be posted in cash.”
The resolution also denied Estrada’s motion to dismiss the case “for lack of merit.”
The Ombudsman also asked that the Sandiganbayan set the date for oral argument on the motion for reconsideration.
“Inapplicable”
In seeking for a (partial) reversal of the resolution, the Ombudsman said the case of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vs Sandiganbayan–which the anti-graft court used as the meat of its argument to grant bail to Estrada—was “inapplicable” in Estrada’s case as this was a different case in the first place.
In Arroyo’s case, the Supreme Court had granted the former president’s petition for bail after noting that the cases filed against her in connection with the controversial P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund scam did not identify the “main plunderer” in the first place.
The Supreme Court then said that the identification of such was “not only necessary because the law required such identification, but also because it was essential in safeguarding the rights of all of the accused to be properly informed of the charges they were being made answerable for.”
The Ombudsman argued that unlike Arroyo’s case which has as respondents government officials, some respondents in Estrada’s case were private individuals.
“Seriously erred”
The Ombudsman added that the Sandiganbayan “seriously erred” as it “failed to consider the plethora of evidence showing the existence of conspiracy between and among the accused.”
Estrada temporarily left detention on Sept. 16, after he posted a P1.3-million bail on the plunder, graft and corruption cases he is facing in connection with the P10-billion alleged pork barrel scam.
The anti-graft court’s fifth division allowed Estrada–who had been in detention for years — to post bail, after it found there was “no strong evidence” that the former senator was the “main plunderer” in the first place.