MANILA - Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada echoed the statements of President Rodrigo Duterte on the supposed "selective justice" of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) cases filed before the Sandiganbayan.

Estrada recalled that when he was still a sitting senator with the opposition bloc, he delivered a privilege speech on Morales's alleged "selective justice" in handling PDAF cases involving businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.

"The President knows what he is talking about dahil being a prosecutor before, alam niya siguro, nabasa niya ang aming kaso. Talagang wala naman talaga, pinili lang talaga kami kasi we were with the opposition in the last administration," Estrada said in an ambush interview.

Estrada noted that most of the senators at the time were also mentioned in the case but only he and former senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile were detained.

"Halos karamihan ng mga senador at congressmen, pumipirma din ng endorsement letters. Di namin malaman, tatlo lang kaming pinili ng SOJ (Secretary of Justice) nung draw samantalang ang mga kaalyado ng dating administrasyon parang di 'ata nabibigyan ng karampatang kaso," Estrada said.

Estrada was at the anti-graft court for the first day of his graft trial at the 1st Division, which was cancelled and rescheduled to September 25.

First Division chairperson Associate Justice Efren Lagos said the trial of Estrada and his co-accused will push through on September 25 whether or not the defense signs the pre-trial order.

Estrada, like former Senator Bong Revilla, lamented his more than three years in detention at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

"We still have a pending motion for bail before the 5th Division of Sandigan and it is still pending, still waiting for the resolution to come out and hopefully ma-aksiyunan nila dahil lagpas tatlong taon na kami in detention. Sana naman maunawaan ng korte ang aming kalagayan," Estrada said.

During the hearing, the court also noted that Estrada was on an emergency medical furlough on August 28, according to a report submitted by the PNP.

According to the report, Estrada complained of "severe chest pain" and was brought to the PNP General Hospital which is also located inside Camp Crame. He underwent x-ray procedures and was brought back to his detention cell "with no untoward incident."

"Nagkaroon lang ng chills and high fever. What I am complaining of is my right shoulder that needs to be operated on," Estrada said.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales last Thursday denied allegations of bias in the handling of "pork barrel" scam cases.

"Under the law that I mentioned, we give priority to high-profile cases, high government officials who hold supervisory positions or cases that involve huge amounts of money or big property," she said.

Morales also said that the initial PDAF scam cases were based on statements of Janet Lim Napoles, who mentioned Estrada, Revilla and former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in her affidavit.

"I recall that when I was new there and the PDAF cases came out, Ms. Napoles came out with an affidavit targeting 3 senators," she said.