The Sandiganbayan has permitted former Senator Jinggoy Estrada to go with his mother, former Sen. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito, on a medical trip to Singapore this week.
According to a two-page resolution released on Monday, October 1, the court’s Fifth Division allowed Estrada to leave the country from October 1 to 8.
“The right to travel is a constitutional right which cannot be impaired except in cases provided for by law,” the court said.
However, Estrada is required to maintain his P2.66-million travel bond in order to guarantee his faithful compliance with the terms and conditions of the court. He is required to present himself before the court within five days after his return, as well.
Should Estrada fail to return, the Sandiganbayan would deem it as a waiver of his right to be present in the hearings of his cases and trial will proceed as scheduled.
In Estrada’s urgent motion, he stated that his mother needs to have a medical examination done by Dr. Prem Pillay, a practising neurosurgeon, at the Singapore Brain-Spine Nerves Center at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
According to him, his mother was diagnosed with “severe compression deformity of the lumbar spine with vertebral body collapse.
Estrada was sent to jail several years ago after he was charged with plunder and 11 counts of graft for allegedly pocketing P183.8 million in kickbacks in exchange for diverting his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations to foundations linked to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
He was detained from June 2014 until September 2017, when he was allowed to post bail after the court deemed the plunder case weak for failing to pinpoint a “main plunderer.”
Estrada had already been to Hong Kong for a family vacation, Singapore to accompany his father for medical treatment, and the United States to attend the U.S. Pinoy for Good Governance (USPGG) general membership meeting since his release.
