Philippine Senator Estrada to Surrender After Arrest Warrant Issued

A Philippine senator said Monday he will surrender after a special anti-graft court ordered his arrest on a non-bailable charge of plunder. The warrant stems from allegations that he received more than 570 million pesos in kickbacks from flood-control projects. The same senator had surrendered and posted bail last week on an earlier bailable graft charge.

Background on the case The senator, 63, has denied the allegations and said the cases result from his political alignment with former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte. He told reporters at the Senate that he would not yield to threats or surrender his independence of judgment.

Several other senators and House members have also been implicated in the same flood-control anomalies. With the new warrant, two senators in the 24-member chamber now face legal proceedings that would sideline them.

Related legal developments Another senator has gone into hiding after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity linked to a past anti-drug campaign. Former President Duterte, arrested last year on ICC orders, faces trial in the Netherlands starting in November.

The senator facing the plunder warrant previously served as an actor and was detained on other corruption charges alongside his father, a former president.

“I will not yield to threats. I will not be intimidated.”