Estrada, Marcoleta lawyers unaware of Tulfo’s bail claims

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyers of detained Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta on Thursday said they were unaware of claims that the Sandiganbayan may grant bail in their plunder cases.

“Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Dante Marcoleta will soon be set free on bail by the Sandiganbayan,” retired columnist Ramon Tulfo, citing a source, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

“I would be happy if the tweety bird fed me [a] fake report,” he added.

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Tulfo said “a principal witness” against Estrada has recanted his testimony.

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Estrada’s case stemmed from an alleged “intricate mechanism involving illegal budgetary insertions and project allocations” within the Department of Public Works and Highways’ infrastructure portfolio for fiscal year 2025 worth P573 million, according to prosecutors.

READ: P573-M systematically delivered to Sen. Estrada in 3rd plunder case

Sought for comment, Estrada’s lawyer Lawrence Arroyo told Inquirer: “I have no idea what Mr. Tulfo is referring to.”

Arroyo is also the legal counsel of former Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor, the co-accused of Marcoleta in his plunder case.

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As for Marcoleta’s case, Tulfo claimed that the senator’s case will be “downgraded” from plunder to “mere” graft, a bailable case, “as the money involved was not stolen from the government.”

“I have no personal knowledge of that or who is his (Tulfo) source,” Marcoleta’s lawyer David Gabriel told Inquirer when sought for comment.

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Marcoleta’s plunder case stemmed from a P75 million donation he received from Defensor and two others while sitting as a party-list lawmaker.

“We have always maintained that the funds here are private in nature and have been characterized as election contribution…” Gabriel said.

As for Defensor, Tulfo claimed that they will hold Defensor “for six or so months more” before being allowed to post bail.

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“You can’t fight city hall, as the saying goes,” Tulfo said of Defensor’s case. /mcm