The Sandiganbayan Special Fifth Division has affirmed its earlier decision to grant the bail petition of former senator Jinggoy Estrada in connection with plunder charges leveled against him over the pork barrel scam.
The anti-graft court earlier granted bail to Estrada for the government prosecutor’s failure to establish that he was the “main plunderer” in the case.
“Finally, a careful examination of the instant motion reveals that the issues raised by the prosecution are the very same issues already discussed and passed upon by the court in the assailed resolution, and finding no new matters that could merit the reconsideration of its previous resolution, the court finds no cogent reason to depart from it,” the courts said in its four-page decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Reynaldo Cruz and Lorifel Pahimna.
Fifth Division Chairman Rafael Lagos and Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeces dissented.
The court, in its Sept. 15 decision, allowed the former lawmaker to post a P1.3-million bail, which led to his release from detention.
Estrada is accused of amassing P183 million in kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Fund, supposedly in conspiracy with “PDAF scam” queen Janet Lim Napoles. He had been detained since June 2014 at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
The decision came as the anti-graft court junked the motion for reconsideration filed by the prosecution questioning the Sandiganbayan’s decision.
“The court believes that the evidence presented by the prosecution in the bail hearings did not sufficiently establish that the accused was one of the main actors or masterminds in the so-called PDAF scam,” the Fifth Division said.
“For failure of the prosecution to present sufficient evidence to identify the mastermind/main actor of the whole plunder scheme, who had amassed ill-gotten wealth and who principally benefited therefore, the grant of the application for bail is in order,” it added.