A San Juan City court has denied Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) aimed at preventing former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bulacan 1st District Assistant Engineer Brice Hernandez from making further statements implicating him in the ongoing flood control project anomalies.
Hernandez’s lawyer, Atty. Ernest Levanza, confirmed that the San Juan Regional Trial Court Branch 160 rejected Estrada’s request for injunctive relief.
“In the said resolution, the court denied the senator’s prayer for a TRO against Brice,” Levanza said, adding that the main case remains pending despite the denial.
In a seven-page ruling dated October 30, Presiding Judge Caron Aicitel Lascano-Nethercott noted that Estrada himself admitted that his petition was not intended to stop Hernandez from testifying before Congress.
The court also observed that Hernandez’s allegations—linking Estrada to ₱355 million worth of flood control projects in Bulacan, from which he allegedly received 30% in kickbacks—had already been widely circulated in media and public hearings.
“Clearly, the issuance of a TRO at this point would no longer serve its purpose as the acts sought to be restrained… were already fait accompli (accomplished fact),” the court said.
“Case law teaches that a temporary restraining order will not issue if the act sought to be enjoined is a fait accompli (accomplished fact),” it added.
The ruling emphasized that there was no longer a sense of “extreme urgency” to justify the issuance of a TRO.
“From the foregoing, it is clear that the requisite extreme urgency warranting the issuance of a TRO is no longer present. Wherefore, premises considered, plaintiff’s TRO application is denied,” the court stated.
Instead of granting immediate relief, the court scheduled a hearing on Estrada’s petition for a writ of preliminary injunction on November 12 at 9:30 a.m., where both parties are expected to present further arguments.
The case stems from Hernandez’s explosive testimony before the Senate and the House of Representatives, where he named several government officials allegedly involved in ghost flood control projects—a controversy that continues to unfold amid the Marcos administration’s anti-corruption crackdown.