“Through the years.”
This is what Filipinos noticed after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was ordered arrested on plunder charges related to the flood control scandal.
The senator on Monday, June 1 was issued a warrant by Sandiganbayan‘s Fifth Division for plunder over the alleged P573 million in illicit payouts from flood control projects.
The development came days after Estrada posted P90,000 bail for a separate graft charge, also linked to the flood control scandal.
The plunder case may lead to the senator’s detention, as plunder is a non-bailable offense when evidence of guilt is strong.
It is the third time that Estrada has faced a high-profile plunder charge.
Plunder is defined as when a public officer who “amasses, accumulates, or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt or criminal acts” amounting to at least P75 million.
Following Estrada’s involvement in the case, some Filipinos took to social media to recall how the politician had seemingly been linked to corruption cases throughout their lives.
“Gawa tayo trend,” writer Noelle Capili-Ruiz wrote on Instagram, sharing photos of herself each time Estrada has been involved in a case.
In 2001, Estrada was charged with plunder, alongside his father, former President Joseph Estrada, over allegations linked to the illegal numbers game jueteng.
By 2014, the senator was again charged with the same crime in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
Meanwhile, Noelle juxtaposed her images with those of Jinggoy’s to show the number of times he has been linked to corruption cases.
“If you think about it, collective childhood experience ng millennials, Gen Z, and Gen alpha na may kaso si Jinggoy,” pulmonologist Jai Cabajar wrote, garnering 4,900 likes on X (formerly Twitter).
He was referring to different generations, namely Millennials (born from 1981 to 1996), the Generation Z (from 1997 to 2012) and Generation Alpha (from 2013 to 2025).
“Jinggoy’s Corruption vs. You through the years Challenge. ‘Di na kayo natuto. P.S. Grade 1 na ako noong 2001. Katamad maghanap ng picture, lol,” another commented, sharing their own photos.
#JinggoysCorruptionVSYouThroughTheYearsChallenge
Jinggoy’s Corruption vs You through the years Challenge 😂😂
Di na kayo natuto 🤬🤬
P.S. Grade 1 na ako noong 2001 😂 Katamad maghanap ng picture lol pic.twitter.com/jZlteutVs6
— PGee 🇵🇭🇵🇸 (@Popoygee) May 29, 2026
“Huwaw. Pinag-iisipan pa ni Jinggoy?!? Grabeh. Plunderer since the early 2000s. Ibang klase,” another user wrote, reacting to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla‘s comment about speaking with Jinggoy ahead of his then-looming arrest.
The cases
2001
According to reports, Jinggoy and his father Joseph, in 2001, were accused of allegedly acquiring ill-gotten wealth amounting to P4 billion, which supposedly came from jueteng operations, kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes and stock manipulation.
Then-Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson claimed that Jinggoy, who was San Juan City mayor at the time, was a jueteng collector in Bulacan.
In 2007, Joseph was found guilty of plunder, but his son was acquitted because Singson’s testimony against him was deemed not convincing.
2014
Seven years after his acquittal, Jinggoy was charged with plunder in connection with the PDAF scam, in which Priority Development Assistance Funds were allegedly channeled through Janet Napoles‘ ghost organizations in exchange for kickbacks.
He was accused of collecting P183 million in pork barrel kickbacks and faced 11 counts of graft.
Jinggoy was detained for three years and provisionally released in 2017. At that time, evidence did not point to him as the “main plunderer.”
2025
By 2025, state witness and former Department of Public Works and Highways district engineer Henry Alcantara said there was a P355 million budget insertion for Jinggoy, drawn from seven flood control projects in Bulacan.
Former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, another state witness, also said that Jinggoy allegedly received kickbacks from public works projects worth around P2.3 billion.
The Ombudsman said that an “accumulated sum of illicit payouts amounting to an aggregate sum of over P573 million” was “systematically delivered” to Jinggoy.
The senator surrendered on Monday, saying “I will not seek Senate custody,” referring to the potential for him to seek refuge in the upper house instead of surrendering to police.
“I am ready to defend myself before the court and I will not hide behind the institution to evade the process,” he added.
— with reports from Philstar.com/Ian Laqui