Prosecutors to seek consultant’s testimony

Prosecutors in President Estrada’s impeachment trial are planning to seek the testimony of his American consultant Paul Bograd who allegedly received a P5 million check from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.

Rep. Sergio Apostol (Lakas, Leyte) told reporters yesterday that he would propose to the prosecution panel that Bograd, the President’s political strategist, be subpoenaed for his testimony taken by deposition.

"His story will strengthen the testimony of Governor Singson," said Apostol, who leads the panel’s Team A which is prosecuting the charge of bribery against the President that relates to jueteng.

Singson, a former gambling and drinking buddy of Mr. Estrada, had accused the Chief Executive of receiving more than P500 million in jueteng money and tobacco excise tax kickback.

Other prosecutors are not keen on hearing Bograd’s story.

"It’s not worth it. It would look like were are overdoing it," said Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo.

He said the credibility of Singson, the prosecution’s star witness, has already been established and has not been demolished.

Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) said what matters is that Singson gave the P5 million "pay to cash" check to the President and Mr. Estrada received it.

That is the act constituting bribery, he said.

"The President has admitted that he gave the check to Bograd. He could have given it to somebody else, and still that would not have mattered," he said.

He added that prosecutors and the people in general "need not have to go far to look for the culprit, who is right in front of us."

Arroyo and Moreno compose Team B, which is handling the corruption charge against Mr. Estrada. The charge relates to Singson’s claim that the President received P130 million in the tobacco tax share of Ilocos Sur.

For his part, Rep. Ralph Recto (Independent, Batangas) sought the issuance of a hold-departure order on Bograd to prevent him from leaving the country in case his testimony is sought.

"The import of Bograd’s possible testimony is that the President, according to wire reports, had admitted that the (P5 million) check from Singson was in turn given to Bograd," said Recto, who belongs to the House minority.

He said the check is the second payment from the Ilocos Sur governor that Mr. Estrada had acknowledged was received by his aides.

He noted that last month, the President’s personal lawyer, Edward Serapio, admitted receiving P200 million in jueteng money from Singson in behalf of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation chaired by Mr. Estrada’s brother-in-law, Raul de Guzman.

Recto also urged Malacañang to clarify Bograd’s employment status.

"It would be interesting to know if Bograd has a working permit from the labor department and if he had paid the right amount of taxes," he said.

As for reports that the American used part of the money to improve the image of his client, Recto said it’s like the Colombian president "using proceeds from the cocaine trade to pay for the salary of an imported spin doctor."

The name of Bograd has come up twice in the past few months in the House of Representatives.

The first time was when Isabela Rep. Heherson Alvarez revealed that Mr. Estrada had hired the American to help his crisis handlers save his presidency.

Alvarez, who is Lakas secretary general, claimed then that Bograd was paid $5 million. It is now turning out that amount is P5 million.

Three weeks ago, another Lakas congressman, Rep. Federico Sandoval II of Malabon-Navotas, tagged the mysterious Russian-American as a member of a demolition team formed by the administration to do a "dirty job" against the opposition and turn public opinion in favor of Mr. Estrada.

Sandoval said the team is headed by former Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who promptly denied the congressman’s allegation.

Opposition sources said Puno and Bograd teamed up in 1998 to help then Vice President Estrada to win the presidential elections.