Philippine police on Monday arrested a lawmaker in connection with a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal, making him the highest-ranking government official detained in a case that has triggered mass protests across the country, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada’s detention came nearly a year after revelations of large-scale corruption involving flood control projects—an issue with severe consequences in a country regularly hit by powerful typhoons.

Several construction company owners, government officials, and politicians have been accused of siphoning funds from the projects. However, this marks the first time a sitting lawmaker has been arrested in the scandal.

Estrada has denied the allegations, calling them “nonsense” and claiming they are an attempt to pressure him into switching political sides in a deeply divided Senate.

A special anti-graft court issued the arrest order on Monday, just days after Estrada—son of former Philippine president Joseph Estrada—was formally charged with plunder, a crime defined in the Philippines as large-scale corruption.

Corruption has long been a persistent issue in the Philippines, but the flood control case has drawn particular attention due to the massive sums involved.

A government prosecutor alleged that Estrada inserted allocations for flood control projects into the 2025 national budget, enabling him to accumulate kickbacks exceeding 573 million pesos (about $9.2 million).

Plunder is punishable by life imprisonment, and those charged are not eligible for bail under Philippine law.

Estrada’s co-accused include former Department of Public Works and Highways secretary Manuel Bonoan, along with several local engineering officials.

Before surrendering to police at the Senate premises, Estrada told reporters that the case was part of an attempt to blackmail him.

“There were many offers to drop the charges against me, but I did not entertain them,” he said. “What is at stake here is the independence of the Senate,” he added, without providing further details.

Estrada is part of a bloc of 13 senators who gained control of the 24-member Senate in May, ahead of the upcoming impeachment trial of their ally, Vice President Sara Duterte, scheduled for next month.

Another member of the same bloc, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa—formerly the chief enforcer of the controversial drug war under ex-president Rodrigo Duterte—went into hiding last month after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest order against him.

Both Dela Rosa and former president Rodrigo Duterte are facing accusations of crimes against humanity, including murder. The former president was arrested last year and transferred to the Netherlands-based tribunal.

Their absence from the Senate could prevent them from serving as judges in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing allegations of graft, unexplained wealth, and an alleged plot to assassinate former ally President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Estrada was previously charged in 2014 with plunder related to government development funds, but he was acquitted a decade later.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev