MANILA, Philippines – Sinabi ni Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III nitong Sabado, Disyembre 6 na hindi kailangan ni Senador Jinggoy Estrada, o ng sinumang miyembro ng Senado na kumuha ng travel authority mula sa kanyang opisina kung aalis ito ng bansa para sa “personal trips.”
Ito ang sagot ni Sotto ng tanungin tungkol sa report na sinabi umano ni Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla na ipinadala ang isang abiso sa opisina ng Senate president na humihiling na huwag bigyan ng travel authority si Estrada.
Ani Sotto, wala pa siyang natatanggap na anumang abiso.
“No, I haven’t received anything. If my office has received anything, I haven’t been told yet. We haven’t received anything, that’s one thing,” sinabi ni Sotto.
“Secondly, it’s not me. You can’t ask the Senate president for that in the situation of Senator Estrada,” ipinunto niya.
Tinukoy niya ang Senate Policy Order No. 2016-003, s. 2016, na nagsasabing “only official travels are subject to the prior approval of the Senate President.”
“The practice of the Senate is that when a senator leaves the country and is on a personal trip, at his own expense, he does not need to inform the Senate president. He does not need a travel authority,” paliwanag ni Sotto.
“When you are on official business, you will ask for a letter of authority from the Senate president,” dagdag pa.
“This is his problem now. Sen. Jinggoy, he has been out of the country about a dozen times since he was indicted until now. But his authority is always the Sandiganbayan, not the Senate President. So if the Ombudsman wants something like that, he should write to the Sandiganbayan. And tell the Sandiganbayan, because the Sandiganbayan is informing Sen. Estrada, not me.”
Noong nakaraang taon, na-acquit ng Sandiganbayan si Estrada sa plunder charges ngunit na-convict ito sa bribery charges na may kaugnayan sa pork barrel scam.
Samantala, nilinaw ni Sotto na walang pending application o request si Estrada para sa official business sa kanyang opisina.
“He doesn’t have anything like that pending against me. And maybe if there is, it’s in the Sandiganbayan,” aniya.
Nang tanungin kung ano ang mangyayari kung makaalis ng bansa si Estrada bago isampa ang bagong kaso laban sa senador, sinabi ni Sotto na
“Then he’ll come back.”
“He always comes back even if there’s a case.”
“He didn’t escape even then,” pagpapatuloy nito.
Si Estrada ay kasalukuyang idinidiin sa mga anomalya sa infrastructure projects sa bansa.
Ang senador ay kabilang sa mga respondent ng pinakabagong rekomendasyon ng Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) sa Office of the Ombudsman sa pagsasampa ng reklamong plunder at iba pang kaso sa umano’y pakikipagsabwatan para sa kickback na mula 25 hanggang 30% ng badyet na para sana sa infrastructure projects.
Itinanggi naman nito ang mga alegasyon laban sa kanya. RNT/JGC
