'Surrender or arrest': DOJ's Remulla to Jinggoy Estrada over plunder charges
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Friday said that he has now coordinated with the senator amid his possible arrest.
"Surrender or arrest. He mentioned that he needed knee replacement surgery. I replied that it's up to the Sandiganbayan’s appreciation. Our job is to process his arrest and submit him to the Sandiganbayan," said Remulla.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Thursday has pushed back against the plunder and graft charges filed against him by the Office of the Ombudsman, arguing that they had failed to independently verify the claims before filing the case.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Estrada stressed that he and his team would "exhaust all legal remedies" to counter the charges, which stemmed from the lawmaker's alleged involvement in the flood control corruption scandal.
"Sa kasalukuyan, inihahanda ng aking mga abogado ang mga kaukulang hakbang upang mapakita ang mga iregularidad sa naging proseso, gayundin ang mga ebidensyang hindi nabigyan ng sapat na timbang at konsiderasyon," he said.
The evidence includes a letter from the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office, which, according to Estrada, states that there is no record whatsoever of him making any insertion in the 2025 national budget.
"Isa itong mahalagang ebidensya na tahasang pinapabulaanan ang lahat ng alegasyon laban sa akin, subalit sadyang isinantabi," he underscored.
Aside from this, Estrada also claimed that he was not given the opportunity to properly review and study the resolutions issued by the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman so that he could file a motion for reconsideration before the case was brought before the Sandiganbayan.
He further pointed out how since Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano took over the role of Senate President from Sen. Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, cases involving some members of the majority bloc have moved forward very quickly.
"Barely a week after the DOJ issued its Resolution in my case, agad nagsampa ng kaso ang Ombudsman nang hindi nagsasagawa ng sarili nitong masusi at independent fact-finding investigation. Sa ilalim ng umiiral na proseso, mahalagang bahagi ang fact-finding investigation bago magsampa ng kaso sa Sandiganbayan," Estrada said.
"Ito ay sa kabila ng naunang pahayag ng Ombudsman na magkakaroon ng 'independent review and resolution on the merits of the case.' Batay sa mga pangyayari, malinaw na kailangang suriin kung naisakatuparan nga ang pahayag na ito," he continued.
He ended his statement by emphasizing that he will continue seeking the truth and defending his name in the proper forum and in accordance with the law.
"As I have said before, if this is the price that I have to pay for standing by my principles and for what I believe in, then so be it," Estrada said.
The DOJ previously recommended filing the charges against Estrada, as well as former Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan and others, for supposedly maneuvering allocations, rigging public bidding processes, and siphoning government funds stemming from major national infrastructure budget systems.
This was after Estrada was named by former DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez as among the senators allegedly involved in kickback schemes in Bulacan. The senator has since denied the claims and filed perjury charges against Hernandez in December 2025. The DOJ junked the case due to a lack of evidence.
This is Estrada's third time to face corruption allegations. In 2001, he was jailed for plunder alongside his father, Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Then in 2014, he was detained over his alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, where he was accused of channeling Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations to bogus non-government organizations linked to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
He was later granted bail in 2017 after the Sandiganbayan ruled that the evidence against him for plunder was not strong, although the case itself remained pending.
