FIRING LINE: Jinggoy who cried wolf

FIRING LINE: Jinggoy who cried wolf

By Robert B. Roque Jr. | June 4, 2026

The title says it all. For the third time in his political life, Senator Jinggoy Estrada is telling the public he is innocent.

The first time was during the jueteng scandal in 2001 that accompanied the downfall of his father, former president Joseph Estrada. The second was during the pork barrel scandal that broke out in 2014, where he spent years fighting plunder and bribery charges before eventually securing acquittals. Now comes a third chapter: a plunder and graft case linked to hundreds of millions of pesos worth of flood-control projects.

Of course, every accused person is entitled to due process. As his half-brother, Sen. JV Ejercito, pointed out, the courts must determine guilt or innocence, and justice must prevail.

But politics is often about timing. And the timing here has fueled speculation across Senate corridors.

A Senate insider claims that someone “very close to Jinggoy” had warned him in the heat of the fragile power struggle in the Upper Chamber that legal trouble was coming his way.

The Firing Line source said this member of the majority, now called the Solid Bloc of 11 or SB-11, allegedly encouraged Jinggoy to distance himself from the Duterte-aligned bloc and swing to the minority or face legal repercussions over his alleged involvement in the flood control ghost projects.

He was being courted to avoid tying his fortunes too closely to Vice President Sara Duterte, who was set for an impeachment battle that could derail her 2028 aspirations.

According to the source, the message became even more pointed when Jinggoy was first hit with a graft case last week — a charge that was bailable and, in hindsight, allegedly meant to serve as a warning shot. The source claimed it was intended to show that the government was serious about pursuing cases against him if he chose to remain with the pro-Duterte bloc and play a role in helping acquit the VP in a Senate impeachment trial.

Whether those stories are true or not, one thing is clear now: instead of crossing over, Jinggoy chose his side.

The warning failed to change his mind, and he feels it was politically safer to ride out whatever cases might come than abandon the camp he expects to hold power by 2028. Apparently, he is betting on being jailed for two years and then exonerated in the future under a Sara administration.

But that wager, to me, looks increasingly risky. Recent surveys show 75% of Pinoys now want to see Sara face the impeachment trial proceeding. At the same time, Leni Robredo — who, despite consistently saying she is not running for president anymore — is gaining ground in the latest polls.

Perhaps that is why this arrest of Jinggoy feels different from the previous two. It is no longer just a legal fight. It is a political gamble with extraordinarily high stakes.

I can’t say if Sen. Jinggoy is playing his cards right. But all I know is that this is the third time he’s invoking innocence. And in the tale of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, it was the third cry that killed him.

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