Manila: The Sandiganbayan turned down Senator Jinggoy Estrada's plea to fix an amount for bail for his temporary liberty. Estrada had asked the anti-graft court to fix bail, citing the tribunal's ruling in the previous plunder charges against him.

According to Philippines News Agency, in an eight-page resolution dated July 24, the Sandigan 5th Division ruled that Estrada's motion was filed prematurely, ahead of an actual petition to grant him bail. The court stated that the lawmaker could not use the previous plunder charges as a basis to be allowed bail without the required hearing.

The court explained, "(T)he court finds that the instant motion to fix bail (filed by Estrada) is premature and devoid of legal basis. Until accused Estrada filed the appropriate application for bail and the court, after the requisite hearing, determines that the evidence of guilt against him is not strong, there is no occasion for the court to fix the amount of bail. The motion must, therefore, be denied."

The tribunal further noted that Estrada's motion "asks the court to fix the amount of bail without first resolving the antecedent question of whether bail may be granted at all." The court emphasized, "This the court cannot do. The fixing of bail necessarily presupposes a prior determination that the accused is entitled to be admitted thereto. Without such determination, any discussion regarding the amount of bail would be premature."

In a previous case, the Sandiganbayan highlighted that liberty was not granted to Estrada through a simple motion to fix bail. "Bail was allowed only after the Sandiganbayan conducted the required evidentiary hearing on the strength of the prosecutions' evidence. Here, accused Estrada attempts to bypass this indispensable constitutional requirement by asking the court immediately fix the amount of bail without undergoing the mandated summary bail hearing. Hence, he cannot use the outcome of his previous case to justify a procedural shortcut in the present motion," it said.