Estrada's Bid to Attend Duterte Trial Blocked by Sandiganbayan

The Sandiganbayan's fifth division denied Senator Jinggoy Estrada's motion to attend the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, ruling the request lacked merit. In a July 9 resolution written by Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Mañalac, the court said Estrada's request did not qualify as an emergency or compelling temporary leave. The impeachment trial, though constitutionally significant, did not justify what the court called a "contining and recurring leave" from detention. With an estimated 31-week timeframe, allowing Estrada to attend "would virtually make him a free man with all the privileges appurtentant to his position."

The ruling stressed that granting the request would "elevate his status to that of a special class" and "make a mockery of the purposes of preventive detention." Division chairman Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses and Associate Justice Hans Chester Nocom concurred with Corpus-Mañalac. Estrada faces plunder and graft charges linked to the flood control scandal in Bulacan. The court's decision keeps him detained for the duration of the impeachment proceedings, removing any expectation of regular attendance at the trial.