Court denies Jinggoy bid to produce PDAF records

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March 14, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Jinggoy Estrada once again failed in his bid to have the Sandiganbayan order the Office of the Ombudsman to produce documents on the investigation into the graft cases related to the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of lawmakers.

The anti-graft court’s Fifth Division denied Estrada’s motion for reconsideration and affirmed its Jan. 27 ruling, denying the senator’s plea to have the documents forwarded.

Estrada, who is facing 11 graft cases due to his involvement in the PDAF scam, asked the court to “transmit the complete preliminary investigation records,” particularly the testimonies of his co-accused including detained former senator Ramon Revilla Jr., the late Juan Ponce Enrile and their witnesses.

This, Estrada said, would enable his camp to “effectively cross-examine the witnesses” as part of defense evidence.

In denying Estrada’s motion, the Sandiganbayan declared that his latest motion “contains merely a reiteration of arguments already considered and passed upon at length in the assailed resolution, thereby dispelling the need for a more in-depth discussion of the issue.”

“Ordering the transmittal thereof sans any clear and compelling reason would be arbitrary,” reads a part of the four-page resolution issued by Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Mañalac.

Sandiganbayan Associate Justices Zaldy Trespeses and Gener Gito concurred.