The Office of the Ombudsman formally filed plunder and graft cases against Senator Jose Pimentel Ejercito Jr. “Jinggoy Estrada,” prompting the Sandiganbayan’s immediate release of an arrest warrant on May 29 and preempting imminent charges against fellow senators in the majority bloc.
Majority vs. Minority
The Philippine Senate’s majority and minority blocs are determined by a senator’s vote during the election of the Senate President. Those who support the elected Senate President are those in the majority bloc, while those who do not align with the Senate President join the minority bloc. Senators in the majority bloc direct the legislative agenda and mostly hold the committee chairmanships. The minority bloc senators, meanwhile, serve as the check and balance, holding a significant role for democracy.
Majority in jeopardy
Under the Senate Alan Peter Cayetano’s presidency, the majority bloc is composed of 13 senators. Currently, eight of the members of this bloc are under investigation or subject to indictment by the Ombudsman.
Estrada faces one count of plunder and two counts of graft concerning the multi-million peso flood control kickback schemes. According to Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano, a total of “₱573 million” were “systematically delivered to the principal respondent, Senator Jinggoy Estrada” and were grounds for filing the cases before the Sandiganbayan on May 28. Estrada posted a ₱90,000 bail for temporary release in the anti-graft court for his graft charges on May 29. Under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act (R.A.) No. 3019, graft cases are bailable. However, a plunder case is non-bailable and is punishable by life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua. Notably, this is the third time that Estrada has been charged with plunder.
Furthermore, Senator Rodante Marcoleta was issued a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) by the Ombudsman amid complaints of plunder and indirect bribery involving alleged campaign donations of ₱75 million during the May 2025 midterm elections. Clavano further explained that they are preparing a plunder case for Marcoleta over his failure to disclose the alleged donations in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
According to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, the plunder case against acting Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva is “already ripe” and will be filed within two weeks. Villanueva was dragged into the flood control issue as well when former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan First District engineer Henry Alcantara claimed that the senator received a ₱150 million share from a ₱600 million multi-purpose building project in 2025.
Meanwhile, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who served as Senate President during the height of the flood control issues, is now under preliminary investigation over plunder and graft complaints against him by the Ombudsman. This was after the Ombudsman Field Investigation Office (FIO) reported that Escudero had “indirectly received kickbacks of ₱306 million and ₱280 million” from different flood control projects from 2024 to 2025.
Moreover, the siblings Senators Mark Villar and Camille Villar are under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) with complaints filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Jan. 30 regarding market manipulation, insider trading, and misleading disclosures in the Villar Land Holdings Corporation that defrauded investors.
Adding to these local legal pressures on the Senate Majority, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go were recently named as co-perpetrators by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte. According to Malacañang, future arrest warrants against the two senators will be promptly enforced by respective law enforcement agencies.
Minority member Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson Sr. explained in ANC’s Headstart segment that if Estrada is detained by Monday, June 1, the plenary is split 11-11. This makes it impossible for the majority to assemble 13 senators required to form a quorum.
Additionally, Lacson also emphasized a hypothetical scenario of the possible issuance of an arrest warrant against Villanueva, where the Senate floor would be split 11-10.
He said, “Effectively, we [senate minority] will be the majority. While they have the Senate President on their side, they would only be 10, kami ang 11… We will be controlling all the committees because we will move to declare all the chairmanships of all the committees vacant. And we will re-elect the chairpersons.”
Lacson clarified that "it takes 13 votes to elect a Senate president," so they cannot change the Senate presidency. However, he added that "it only takes a simple majority to elect the chairman or the [members] of the committee."
Need for a plunder precedent review
Based on the R.A. 7080 or the Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder, plunder is a crime committed by any public official, alone or with a private accomplice, who has accumulated ill-gotten wealth of at least ₱75 million through systematic and repeated series of illegal schemes.
At the Pilipinas Conference of Stratbase Institute with Ombudsman Remulla last November 2025, he admitted that “No one ever gets convicted of plunder. And some of these theories are just insane. When you look at the jurisprudence, some of them are just insane.”
However, the Ombudsman is still pushing for plunder cases to punish systemic corruption. The Inquirer also reported Remulla’s statement saying “We should not be afraid because sometimes there are really bad decisions written by certain justices and that can be overturned by the court.”
