Kabayan - pinoy in middle east

STATEMENT OF SENATOR JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA ON POSTING OF BAIL BEFORE THE SANDIGANBAYAN

I am personally posting bail before the Sandiganbayan in relation to the arrest warrant issued by its Second Division. Posting bail is a legal remedy available to me under our justice system, and I intend to avail myself of every lawful means to defend myself and clear my name.

Mariin kong itinatanggi ang mga paratang laban sa akin. Ang mga ito ay walang batayan at walang bahid ng katotohanan. I respect the rule of law and our judicial institutions, and this is precisely why I am posting bail and personally submitting myself to the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan.

Umaasa ako sa patas na pagtrato, due process, at pagiging walang kinikilingan sa pagdinig ng kasong ito. Nagtitiwala ako na sa huli, mananaig ang hustisya at ang katotohanan.

Senator Robin Padilla has renewed his push for Senate Bill No. 1299, or the proposed “Mahiya Naman Kayo Act,” a measure seeking to prohibit members of Congress from interfering in the identification, budgeting, procurement, and implementation of local infrastructure projects.

The bill was filed on August 27, 2025 and remains pending in committee, according to the Senate’s legislative record. Its long title states that it seeks to promote transparency, accountability, and good governance by barring lawmakers from intervening in local infrastructure projects.

Under the proposal, senators and House members would be prohibited from initiating, endorsing, inserting, or influencing the inclusion of local infrastructure projects in the national budget. They would also be barred from directing agencies or local government units to implement specific projects using national funds, interfering in procurement and contract awards, or acting as contractors, suppliers, project implementers, or middlemen in local infrastructure projects.

The bill states that local infrastructure proposals funded by the national government should originate from concerned LGUs, subject to alignment with national development plans and evaluation by agencies such as the DBM, DILG, DPWH, DEPDev, and MMDA. It also requires approved projects, funding sources, and implementation details to be published on public government websites, including PhilGEPS, DBM, and LGU portals.

Padilla’s office framed the measure as a response to the long-running problem of political influence in public works spending, saying government projects should be based on actual community needs rather than political interest. The proposal says violators may face censure or suspension by their chamber, administrative sanctions, and possible criminal prosecution if the acts violate anti-graft, ethics, or other penal laws.

Tsk tsk tsk

My snappy Salute to you sir!
10000 hours

𝗜𝗙 𝗜 𝗔𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗.

Just last week I was stunned with the shadow of a complaint filed by the Field Investigation Bureau, Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon — a complaint perfectly timed, wrapped in legal language, amplified by noise, and aimed not merely at my person, but at my independence.

If the intention of these cases is to silence me, let me say this at the very beginning: It has failed. I will not be silenced.

A complaint without evidence of public injury, official favor, corrupt consideration, or abuse of office is not accountability. It is machinery. It is pressure. It is a warning shot fired at those who refuse to kneel.

But this is larger than me. This is not a fight for one man. This is not a fight for one faction. This is not a fight for political survival.

This is a fight for whether the Filipino people may still have senators capable of questioning, investigating, judging, and speaking freely without fear or favor.

Even if the path becomes lonely, I will walk it. Even if the attacks become heavier, I will endure them. Even if my voice becomes inconvenient to the powerful, I will continue to speak, the way I should.

The same is true of the Senate’s investigation of the flood control scandal. That inquiry must continue. It must not be weakened. It must not be derailed. It must not be silenced. If there has been grand scale theft from the country’s coffers, then that is among the greatest sins of our modern public life. It is not ordinary corruption. It is the stealing of safety from communities that drown. It is the stealing of roads from farmers.

It is the stealing of classrooms from children. It is the stealing of medicine from the sick, wages from workers, and hope from taxpayers who labor honestly while others feast on public money.

No senator should be silenced when the duty is to follow the trail of the public’s money. No committee should be weakened when the task is to expose corruption. No voice should be threatened when the question before the nation is whether the billions intended for the people were ransacked by bandits of insatiable greed!

𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗦, 𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗡𝗢𝗧.

I will not let fear write my narrative. I will not let intimidation decide my vote.

Make me bleed, and I will still shout out to the high heavens for truth and justice. Push me against the wall, and I will still push back with all the lawful strength that conscience, evidence, faith, and duty can give me. Not with violence. Not with hatred. Not with recklessness. But with the Constitution in my hand, the law as my shield, the truth as my voice, and the Filipino people as my reason.

Even if I am the only one left standing, I will stand. Even if my voice is the last one they wish to hear, I will still speak. Even if the path becomes lonely, difficult, and costly, I will continue, because the oath I took was not ceremonial.

Let those who weaponize the law answer to history. Let those who steal from the people answer to justice. Let those who seek to silence dissent understand this: a senator who remembers his oath cannot be purchased by comfort, cannot be subdued by threats, and cannot be defeated by fear.