The Sandiganbayan has denied Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s appeal to dismiss 11 counts of graft filed against him over the alleged misuse of P183 million from his pork barrel funds.
In a 99-page resolution, the anti-graft court emphasized the testimonies of whistleblowers and evidence showing that Estrada’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was funneled into non-government organizations (NGOs) controlled by Janet Lim Napoles, which implemented bogus projects.
According to a Commission on Audit (COA) report, these projects were never carried out by government agencies, and the funds were merely transferred to NGOs with documentation issues and irregular processes.
Among the key evidence presented were documents from whistleblower Benhur Luy, proving that Estrada received kickbacks totaling P183.7 million in exchange for endorsing the NGOs.
Estrada also sought to invalidate the documents used against him, claiming they were fabricated and solely relied on evidence from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other agencies.
However, the Sandiganbayan rejected his motion, ruling that the graft cases against him would proceed as filed.