MANILA, Philippines — Three Sandiganbayan magistrates will no longer be involved in the plunder case against Senator Jinggoy Estrada.
In a letter to the anti-graft court's Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, Fifth Division Associate Justices Roland Jurado, Alexander Gesmundo and Maria Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta cited "personal reasons" for their decision to inhibit from the plunder case of the senator.
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Jurado is the chairperson of the division tasked to handle the controversial cases against the lawmaker for his alleged involvement in the multi-billion peso embezzlement of his Priority Development Assistance Fund.
"May we request for our recusal in the above-indicated criminal cases for personal reasons," the magistrates said in the letter dated December 10.
Estrada has been charged of plunder and 10 counts of graft.
Once the inhibition is made final, the cases may be transferred to another division for the trial proper.
Sandiganbayan division inhibits from Jinggoy's 'pork' case
Senator Jinggoy Estrada sits inside the court during his arraignment at the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court in suburban Quezon City on Monday June 30, 2014. Estrada, the son of an ex-president, is the second celebrity politician to end up in jail allegedly for plunder. AP/Noel Celis-Pool