A San Juan court has denied Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s request to stop former public works engineer Brice Hernandez from making further allegations against him.
Judge Aicitel Lascano-Nethercott of the San Juan Regional Trial Court Branch 160 has found ‘no extreme urgency’ to justify a temporary restraining order against Hernandez, who had testified to Estrada’s alleged involvement in anomalous flood control projects.
Estrada said the court has yet to decide on his application for a preliminary injunction, which will be heard on Nov. 12.
The senator maintained that Hernandez’s claims are false.
At last month’s House inquiry, Hernandez accused Estrada of receiving kickbacks from flood control projects in Bulacan.
State officials, contractors and engineers have recently been implicated in anomalous infrastructure deals, kickbacks and budget insertions. – Neil Jayson Servallos