Jinggoy not exempted from court processes — prosecutors

Government prosecutors reminded Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who is accused of plunder, that he is not exempt from court processes as they vigorously opposed his request to be placed under the custody of the Senate president.

Chief Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio reiterated that there is "no law" that allows the co-accused son of detained President Joseph Estrada to be placed under the custody of Senate President Franklin Drilon, or in legal parlance, to be released on recognizance.

"No senator, particularly Jinggoy Estrada, is beyond the criminal authority and jurisdiction of the honorable court where circumstances call for its exercise. Lest we forget, he is charged with a capital offense (of plunder)," Villa Ignacio argued.

Estrada, 41, is out on a P500,000 bail. He is one of the co-accused in the plunder trial of his father, who remains in jail but enjoying "resthouse" arrest in his 15-hectare resthouse in Tanay, Rizal. Among the other co-accused are lawyer Edward Serapio and Charlie "Atong" Ang.

The younger Estrada informed the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court last week that he will no longer seek court approval whenever he travels abroad since he has already been placed under the recognizance of Drilon.

Drilon’s approval, however, has yet to be shown to the court.

But in an 18-page opposition paper, the Ombudsman and the Office of the Special Prosecutor reminded the young Estrada that he cannot hide in the four walls of Congress even if "it is supreme in its own sphere of affairs."

"There is no doubt that not even it (being a member of the Senate) can escape the legal authority and jurisdiction of Philippine courts when it comes to their acts or omissions that transgress the law of the land," Villa Ignacio stressed.

Government lawyers said Estrada may be thinking of recognizance as a form of custodial arrangement or a form of bond for his temporary liberty.

This is however not the case, prosecutors said.

"Jinggoy mistakes and confuses the concept of recognizance – being a form of custodial arrangement and as a mere substitute for requiring property, cash or surety bonds for temporary liberty – with the exercise of the honorable court’s authority and jurisdiction over his person," government lawyers said in a statement.

Prosecutors also told the Sandiganbayan special division, where Estrada’s plunder and perjury charges are being heard, that Estrada "is and remains an accused in the plunder trial" and he should stay under the court’s authority and jurisdiction.

"His being subsequently elected as a senator does not entitle him to build for himself an island of privileges much less condescendingly address the court as if it were subordinate to the Senate in the conduct of the proceedings," they said.