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Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Tuesday called the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recommendations of a plunder case against him “baffling and unjust.”

On Monday, the DOJ recommended the filing of plunder, graft, and bribery charges against Estrada due to his alleged involvement in anomalous flood control projects.

“This is an unfortunate development. I find this baffling and unjust, considering that the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) categorically stated that there is no record showing that I introduced any insertions into the 2025 budget,” Estrada said in a statement.

The senator added that he filed on May 15 an omnibus motion to reopen the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) probe on the flood control probe. 

Estrada explained: “The motion seeks to allow the presentation and consideration of additional evidence and matters crucial to a fair and objective determination of the complaints.”The NBI previously filed several criminal complaints against certain senators and some Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) executives for the infrastructure scandal. 

A manufacturing plant in Misamis Oriental supposedly linked to Tony Yang, brother of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, was accused of producing “substandard” steel, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The steel manufacturing plant in Tagoloan town, belonging to the Philippine Sanjia Steel Corporation, was raided by authorities last Friday, leading to the arrest of 69 Chinese and a Filipino who were allegedly running the operation.

In a press briefing in Camp Crame on Tuesday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag explained that the operation stemmed from tips by confidential informants that the factory was producing steel rebars that allegedly failed to comply with Philippine National Standard 49:2020.

“Subsequent laboratory examination and confirmatory testing conducted by DTI Bureau of Philippine Standards allegedly revealed multiple failures in mass variation, elongation and surface deformation requirements,” Matibag noted.

The development “[raises] serious concerns regarding structural integrity and public safety,” he added, claiming that the material had been “widely” distributed.

Sens. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Robin Padilla left the Senate premises together before dawn on May 14, just a few hours after the shooting incident inside the Senate, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said on Tuesday.

“On May 14 at about 2:30 a.m., a white Fortuner was seen and individuals were observed leaving the Senate. In particular, we saw Senator Bato and Senator Padilla heading toward the vehicle,” Nartatez said during a Palace briefing, citing footage taken from closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage.

“Per records inquiry, it is owned by Senator Padilla,” he also said.

The Palace, citing multiple sources, confirmed last week that dela Rosa made a predawn “escape” from the Senate, where he had sought protective custody amid an International Criminal Court warrant.

There is currently no information on where the vehicle went or whether other individuals were aboard.

Unlike dela Rosa, Padilla was present in the Senate on Monday as it convened into an impeachment court. He told reporters that dela Rosa remains in the Philippines but said he has no idea of his exact whereabouts.

While the impeachment trial would push through even if Vice President Sara Duterte and her legal team skip proceedings in the Senate, a lawmaker believes this will put her at a disadvantage since the senator-judges will rely on the prosecution’s evidence.

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, the lead public prosecutor for Duterte’s trial, said in a press briefing on Tuesday that if the evidence attached would not be rebutted by the vice president’s camp, senator-judges may lean towards a conviction.

“I believe that it will be disadvantageous for her if she will not be presenting her evidence because there’s already evidence presented by the complainant, and the same evidence will be presented before the impeachment court,” Luistro said when asked about the possibility that Duterte would not attend the trial.

“If this evidence will continue to be unrebutted, uncontroverted, there is a possibility that the senator-judges will be appreciating the evidence in favor of conviction,” she added.

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss outright the petition compelling President Marcos to undergo a drug test and medical examination and disclose the results to the public.

In a 23-page comment dated May 15, the OSG told the high tribunal that the petition for mandamus filed by former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, along with Virgilio Garcia, Juan Raña, and Raymundo Junia, “violates the President’s absolute immunity from suit.”

The state counsel also argued that the petitioners have “no legal standing” to file such a petition, and thus must be thrown out.

“The petition has similarly not shown any legal or constitutional basis to compel the President to submit to any medical examination and publish its results, nor demonstrated any factual basis to assert any serious illness on the part of the President. Stripped clean of bombast and rhetoric, this Petition is nothing more than a fishing expedition,” said the OSG, headed by Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe.

The petition, filed on April 15, forces Marcos to undergo a medical examination, including a hair follicle drug test, so the public would know the “true” state of his health.