Estrada denies Chavit check claim

A beleaguered President Estrada denied yesterday receiving bribe money from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, as the latter alleged last Wednesday at Mr. Estrada’s impeachment trial.

Singson, the prosecution’s star witness, presented to the Senate a check for P5 million which he claimed to have given Mr. Estrada in February 1999 representing bribes collected from jueteng operators.

Singson also said that he regularly delivered illegal gambling money to the President every 15 days.

"There is no truth to that and this will be known. The impeachment court will anyway subpoena them to determine to whom he gave those checks and to whom these checks were deposited," Mr. Estrada told reporters.

But the Chief Executive refused to comment any further. "So let us just leave these matters to our impeachment court which will prove those checks were not given to me and that I have nothing to do with his (Singson’s) accusations," he said.

Mr. Estrada also reiterated that he was keen on testifying but he decided to "follow the advice of our lawyers" that he should not take the stand. "Whatever they say, I will follow," he said.

Rep. Ernesto Herrera (Lakas, Bohol) said Mr. Estrada’s refusal to testify proves his guilt. "Instead of making his explanation to reporters in ambush interviews, he should testify. If he has nothing to hide, he should face his accusers," he said.

Singson said the check, made payable to "cash," was deposited in a bank account that appears in the bank. Prosecutors did not immediately indicate who owned the account.

Singson’s testimony, however, was placed in question after House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella, a member of Mr. Estrada’s Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) coalition, notified the Senate that the congressmen acting as prosecutors in the trial have not been authorized to use a private lawyer to question Singson.

The prosecutors, all Estrada critics, were appointed under then Speaker Manuel Villar Jr., who bolted LAMP when the jueteng bribery scandal erupted.

If the Senate decides that the use of a private lawyer to question Singson was improper, it would void Singson’s testimony and force a new presentation with questioning by the prosecutors who are largely unaccustomed to trial duties.

In a speech to cheering squatter residents in Navotas yesterday, Mr. Estrada maintained his innocence.

"I repeat before you, I did not receive a single cent from any form of illegal gambling. My conscience is clean," the President said. "I have nothing to hide from our countrymen. And I believe, in the end, the truth shall prevail."

Mr. Estrada said he was "ready to accept whatever the results of the on-going impeachment process at the Senate as long as as this will be done in accordance with our Constitution."

The other day, Mr. Estrada denied using a secret bank account in the name of one "Jose Valhalla" to buy a mansion for one of his mistresses.

He also said it was not his signature that appeared on the check used to pay for the mansion. However, he likewise declined to issue further comment.

Prosecutors at the impeachment trial, notably Joker Arroyo, said the signature on the check was strikingly similar to the of the President as seen in Philippine bank notes. – Marichu Villanueva, Jess Diaz, Cecille Suerte Felipe