Once sacked by Estrada, Cuevas joins defense

Apparently a firm believer in the value of a "star-studded cast," former Pre-sident Joseph Estrada has enlisted to his defense team another legal luminary — former Supreme Court Justice and former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas — who he once sacked from his Cabinet.

Cuevas made his first court appearance for Estrada at the Sandiganbayan yesterday where the former president was arraigned on charges that he plundered the economy of some P4 billion during his 30 months in office.

Taking his post at the frontlines, Cuevas led Estrada’s lawyers.

"It took me quite some time to decide to help him (Estrada)," Cuevas told reporters shortly after the arraignment.

But the former magistrate said he decided to accept the case last month because he "pitied" the former president.

Cuevas was supposedly named justice secretary in 1998 as a concession to the powerful Iglesia ni Cristo sect, which continues to vigorously support Estrada.

Ironically, Cuevas, one of the few widely respected appointees to the Estrada Cabinet, was sacked after a little more than a year in the justice portfolio allegedly because he refused to toe his former boss’ line.

Officially, Cuevas was sacked in December 1999 after he was blamed for the "unwitting" pardon of priest-killer Norberto Manero but, unofficially, Cuevas said he was actually sacked because he insisted on going after two presidential cronies.

Cuevas insisted in filing the P26.2-billion tax evasion case against beer and tobacco magnate Lucio Tan, reportedly one of Estrada’s biggest campaign contributors in the 1998 presidential elections.

Tan’s tax suit had been languishing at the preliminary investigation level since 1993 but in December 1998, Cuevas decided to file the case and pursue it with vigor.

He also insisted on pursuing the extradition case against businessman Mark Jimenez, another Estrada crony, who is wanted in the US for a string of federal felony charges

Cuevas said his former University of the Philippines classmate, former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, attempted several times to dissuade him from pursuing the charges against Jimenez, then his client. But Cuevas refused.

Tan has now made open moves to reconcile with the Arroyo administration while Jimenez, still facing extradition but now a Manila congressman, has agreed to testify against Estrada.

Cuevas said the former president refused to talk with him for some time because of the two cases but Estrada eventually contacted him to ask him to serve again and, apparently, for free.

"It’s hard to charge him because he might think that I’m only after the money. So actually I’ll be losing money in this case because I have other cases I can’t attend to," Cuevas said.

He said that for the arraignment alone, he had to forego sleep because he supervised the preparation of a motion for the Supreme Court.

But the sleepless night was in vain the Sandiganbayan rejected the arguments he presented in two hours of oral arguments over the postponement of the arraignment.

"Everybody was already congratulating me for my performance but the court still denied it," Cuevas said, apparently irritated.

Nonetheless, Cuevas apparently has hit the books with gusto since he accepted the offer last month and is looking forward to arguing the case before the High Court.

"I’ll argue the case before the Supreme Court," he said. "Maybe we can do better there."

When the former SC justice was asked if he believed Estrada was innocent, he dodged the question in the expected manner of lawyers.

"He may have committed indiscretions but not plunder," he said, suggesting that he is now looking to getting Estrada off the hook on a legal technicality.

"There may be other evidence of violations but, decidedly, it is not plunder," he repeated. — Jose Rodel Clapano, Delon Porcalla