Fiscals block Jinggoy Estrada’s Hong Kong vacation

MANILA, Philippines — Prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman have urged the Sandiganbayan not to give in to the request of former senator Jinggoy Estrada to leave the country for a week to spend the holidays in Hong Kong.

In an opposition paper filed before the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division last week, the prosecution panel said Estrada’s requested travel must be denied as the former senator failed to establish its “necessity or urgency.”

“While the prosecution is mindful of a person’s right to travel, accused Estrada’s present situation constrains us to interpose an opposition thereto...There is no necessity or urgency for the travel being requested. The purpose he advances is not sufficient basis to grant him permission to travel overseas,” the prosecution said.

In his motion filed on Dec. 6, Estrada asked the Fifth Division to allow him to leave the country from Dec. 26 to 31 for a holiday vacation with his family in Hong Kong.

Estrada said he wanted to “relax and have a rest” before the start of the campaign season for the May 2019 mid-term elections.

Estrada is seeking a Senate seat under the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, the party founded by his father, former president and incumbent Manila mayor Joseph Estrada.

Estrada is facing plunder and 11 counts of graft before the Fifth Division in connection with the pork barrel scam. 

He is accused of receiving P183 million in kickbacks or commissions in exchange for allocating portion of his Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel to the bogus foundations supposedly owned by alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.