Police arrested former senator Jinggoy Estrada for alleged violation of the enhanced community quarantine protocol while distributing relief goods to residents in a barangay in San Juan City Sunday afternoon.
Mayor Francis Zamora said Estrada, a former mayor of San Juan, has been going around the city’s barangays even though he was not authorized to do so and without coordinating with the city government.
Zamora said the camp of the former senator failed to secure a certificate for their relief operations. Estrada, he added, was also not authorized to go outside his residence.
“I believe these two directives, the former senator violated. Being a former lawmaker, being a former senator, he should just follow the law,” Zamora said.
The city chief executive said all those who have been conducting relief operations in San Juan have secured certifications from the Office of the Mayor.
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Estrada’s daughter Janella, who ran for mayor in the 2019 elections but lost to Zamora, posted a video on Facebook showing her father, who was wearing an orange-color personal protective equipment, inside a police station.
Estrada, for his part, said he was arrested because of “local politics.”
“This is not the time to play politics. We are in a pandemic, we are in a crisis. Lahat ng tao kailangan ng pagkain, at nandito kami para magbigay ng pagkain,” he said.
“No one can prevent me from helping my people in San Juan even if I have to go to jail again if that is the price,” he added.
In a phone interview, Estrada told Manila Standard he was distributing bangus to residents of Barangay Salapan when San Juan policemen “invited” him to their headquarters.
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“Social distancing daw,” he said of his alleged violation. “Bakit, porque ba Estrada, hindi puwedeng magbigay ng tulong sa San Juan?”
“Why did they single me out when in fact, many were giving donations here and they have no permit,” he added.
The Estradas had lorded it over San Juan for decades. The former senator’s father, ex-President Joseph Estrada, was also a former mayor of the city.
Estrada’s half brother, former Senator JV Ejercito also served as a long time mayor of San Juan along with Ejercito’s mother, former actress Guia Gomez.
The Estrada patriarch, Jinggoy, JV, and Janella all lost in the 2019 elections as they sought various national and local posts.