Chavit ends Sandigan testimony

The sky’s the limit.

Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson intimated yesterday that jailed former President Joseph Estrada was an inveterate gambler who would indulge his inner circle of friends in limitless mahjong sessions.

Winding up his testimony at the trial of the plunder case against Estrada, Singson said the amount of money changing hands whenever they played mahjong usually ranged from P20 million to P50 million, with no predetermined playing time.

"If President Estrada was not winning, we did not stop our mahjong sessions. We only stopped when Estrada won, regardless of the time," Singson told the Sandiganbayan special division hearing the case.

The witness also admitted that he was able to buy a yacht, which he christened M/V Escalera, for $1 million from his winnings playing mahjong with Estrada and his exclusive circle of friends.

Meanwhile, court-appointed defense lawyer Prospero Crescini vowed to file a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to strip Singson of immunity from suit granted by Ombudsman Aniano Desierto.

Crescini said Singson "is not the least guilty" compared to Estrada and his seven co-accused in the plunder case arising from allegations that the former president amassed an estimated P4 billion in ill-gotten wealth during his 31 months in power.

"We will ask the Supreme Court to decide on the legality of the granting of immunity on Singson. He admitted that he is a gambler, a bribe-taker, a bribe-giver to the president. He is the author of all these," Crescini said, referring to the allegations of massive corruption that triggered a failed impeachment trial and the filing of the plunder case against the former leader.

The defense panel ended its cross-examination of Singson which lasted 13 days, compared to the direct examination that only took three days.

Solicitor General Simeon Marcelo said the cross-examination further strengthened rather than destroyed Singson’s testimony.

"Most of the questions thrown by the defense lawyers were peripheral questions only. Minor inconsistencies being cited by the defense panel strengthened the credibility of Singson as a witness," Marcelo said.

On the other hand, defense counsel Manuel Pamaran, himself a former presiding justice of the anti-graft court, said Singson failed to prove that he was a credible witness.

Pamaran also said Singson should be excluded from coverage of the Witness Protection Program (WPP), adding that the former governor was the "most guilty in this case."

Pamaran said he would ask the High Tribunal to immediately resolve their petition for the removal of Singson from the WPP so that he could be prosecuted in a separate plunder case arising from alleged misuse of P200 million in tobacco excise tax for Ilocos Sur.

The former governor has claimed he delivered to Estrada P130 million as kickback for ordering the release of the P200 million.