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DPWH engineer, co-accused of Estrada, surrenders before Sandiganbayan

Philippines | National

DPWH engineer, co-accused of Estrada, surrenders before Sandiganbayan

By Jel Santos

(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

One of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers charged alongside Senator Jose “Jinggoy” P. Ejercito Estrada in a plunder case surrendered before the Sandiganbayan on Monday, June 1, hours after the anti-graft court issued arrest warrants against the respondents.

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division’s Clerk of Court said Assistant District Engineer Denryl Caesar S. Cortuna appeared before the anti-graft court on Monday afternoon following the issuance of the warrant of arrest against him.

Also named in the arrest warrant were Estrada, former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, District Engineers Manny B. Bulusan and Arturo L. Gonzales Jr.

On May 28, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) filed plunder and graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against the respondents in connection with alleged illegal budget insertions and the disbursement of more than P573 million in purported kickbacks involving DPWH infrastructure and flood-control projects funded under the Fiscal Year 2025 budget.

The OMB said the filing came after it approved a review resolution stemming from an investigation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation-Department of Justice (NBI-DOJ) Public Works and Bid-Rigging Task Force.

Earlier, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ordered the arrest of Estrada and his co-accused in the plunder case linked to alleged anomalies involving DPWH infrastructure and flood-control projects.

Estrada and Bonoan are also facing two counts of graft, with one case raffled to the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division and another graft case raffled to the Fifth Division.

The plunder case against all the respondents was likewise raffled to the Fifth Division.

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One of Jinggoy Estrada co-accused DPWH engineers surrenders Sandiganbayan plunder

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