Trial of Joseph Estrada - The Trial - Charges Filed

Charges Filed

A few months after the January 2001 popular uprising that ousted Estrada, the Philippine Ombudsman filed two charges at the Sandiganbayan on April 4, 2001; one for plunder and the other for perjury. The plunder case consisted of four separate charges: acceptance of 545 million pesos from proceeds of jueteng, an illegal gambling game; misappropriation of 130 million pesos in excise taxes from tobacco; receiving a 189.7-million-peso commission from the sale of the shares of Belle Corporation, a real-estate firm; and owning some 3.2 billion pesos in a bank account under the name Jose Velarde. The minor charge of perjury is for Estrada under-reporting his assets in his 1999 statement of assets and liabilities and for the illegal use of an alias, namely for the Jose Velarde bank account.

Estrada's son, Jinggoy Estrada, an incumbent senator, and Edward Serapio, his personal lawyer were his co-accused. Also charged were Charlie Ang, Yolanda Ricaforte, Alma Alfaro, Eleuterio Tan, Delia Rajas, and Jaime Dichaves, who was later added.

The plunder charge was based upon a complaint filed before the ombudsman by Dante Jimenez, human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong, trial lawyer Leonard de Vera, 1971 Constitutional Convention delegate Ramon A. Gonzales, lawyers Antonio T. Carpio and Dennis B. Funa. One complaint was docketed as OMB-0-00-1756 (Romeo T. Capulong, Leonard de Vera and Dennis B. Funa v. Joseph Ejercito Estrada et al.; see Victor Tan Uy v. Office of the Ombudsman et al., G.R. No. 156399-400, June 27, 2008). On January 22, 2001, two days after his implied resignation from office, President Estrada was ordered by the ombudsman to file his counter-affidavit in answer to the complaints. Finding probable cause, the complaint would be filed as Criminal Case No. 26558.