Sandiganbayan suspends Estrada’s 3 co-accused in graft case

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division suspended three Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who are co-accused with Senator Jinggoy Estrada in a graft case related to alleged flood control corruption.

In a resolution dated Monday, June 29, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ordered the suspension of Arturo Gonzales Jr., Denryl Caesar Cortuna, and Manny Bulusan for 90 days. They are all engineers working in the DPWH National Capital Region office.

The resolution was signed by Associate Justices Zaldy Trespeses, and Maryann Corpus-Manalad, and Gener Gito.

Estrada was also suspended by the anti-graft court in an earlier resolution, preventing him from sitting as a senator-judge in the upcoming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Citing the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division said the preventive suspension seeks to “prevent the accused public officer from hampering his prosecution by intimidating or influencing witnesses, tampering with documentary evidence, or committing further acts of malfeasance while in office.”

Gonzales, Cortuna, and Bulusan pleaded not guilty in their graft and plunder cases. – Rappler.com