Estrada insists he did not accept P200-M bribe from Chavit

Trying to contain the damage made by his own admission that an aide got bribe money from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, President Estrada insisted that he was not guilty of bribery.

"I did not receive the money. It did not pass through my hands. It was deposited in the bank without my knowledge. So it is clear that I know nothing of the bribery which they accuse me of," Mr. Estrada said. "The money is still intact so I don’t know why it appeared in the papers that bribery happened."

Lawyers for the political opposition said Mr. Estrada can face up to 12 criminal charges based on the one admission. Lakas-NUCD legal counsels Antonio Carpio and Rene Corona said Mr. Estrada violated Presidential Decree 46 which makes it "unlawful for public officials to receive directly or indirectly any gift or other valuable thing on any occasion when given by reason of official position."

By not having Singson arrested for bribery, Mr. Estrada violated the Revised Penal Code which "punishes any public officer who in dereliction of the duties of his office shall tolerate the commission of offenses," Carpio said. Mr. Estrada said he did not have Singson arrested because that was the job of the police and he had many other things to do.

Mr. Estrada visited Ilocos Norte province yesterday to drum up support. Ilocos Norte officials, led by the family of deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos, pledged their support to the President – a longtime Marcos supporter.

Addressing a crowd of about 5,000 in Batac, the President lashed out anew against the political opposition clamoring for his resignation on corruption allegations. "Let us listen to the voice of the people and not to the noises of a few," he said.

Mr. Estrada had lunch with the Marcoses in their ancestral home and later visited the mausoleum of Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in a 1986 popular uprising.

Marcos’ widow, Imelda, advised Mr. Estrada, who faces an almost certain impeachment trial, to "stick to the Constitution. Stick to the rule of law. Stick to the truth and ensure that there will be justice" than give in to the clamor for his resignation.

"I think we cannot have mob rule," she said. "We, the Marcoses, have been victims of injustice from these very same people who are now praying for Erap to resign. They’re trying again mob rule but we cannot have mob rule."

The former first lady was referring to Mr. Estrada’s arch-critic, Jaime Cardinal Sin, and former President Corazon Aquino, who both urged Mr. Estrada to resign. She urged them to wait for the outcome of the impeachment. In 1986, Sin and Aquino both led a campaign against the Marcos dictatorship that eventually led to its downfall.

Last week, Mr. Estrada made a detailed reply to the jueteng scandal allegations but virtually admitted that his accuser, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson, remitted a P200 million "surprise" from dubious sources.

And that money was deposited in a bank account controlled by his aide, lawyer Edward Serapio, he said. Mr. Estrada also admitted that the money was in the account of a Muslim youth foundation which he set up and is run by his brother-in-law, Raul de Guzman.

Mr. Estrada said the revelation was meant to dispel public perception that his silence on the scandal was a tacit admission of guilt. "I broke my silence on the jueteng controversy in radio interviews to clear the cloud of disinformation and squid tactics now being foisted upon our people, but the details of everything I said will be substantiated and corroborated in the impeachment proceedings," he said.– With reports from Liberty Dones, Pia Lee-Brago, AFP