Bogus Sandigan subpoena summons GMA, Davide et al to Estrada’s trial

Reporters were all astir yesterday when a fake subpoena supposedly coming from the Sandiganbayan "summoned" President Arroyo, Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and five other people to testify Friday in the historic plunder trial of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

The one-page resolution, bearing the seemingly authentic signatures of the anti-graft court’s Special Division justices, was received by the media office of the House of Representatives Tuesday night and subsequently posted overnight on the corkboard.

It initially didn’t catch the attention of reporters on the beat, since court rulings are not usually posted in the Congress press office shared by reporters covering the Sandiganbayan because the latter doesn’t have a press room.

"The subpoena appeared to be authentic, but the problem was the number of the fax from which the document originated didn’t appear," a broadcast journalist noted, saying he was forced to verify whether the Special Division had indeed summoned Mrs. Arroyo, Davide, Supreme Court justices Artemio Panganiban, Antonio Carpio, Renato Corona, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Clerk of court Teresa Pabulayan denied the existence of the ruling after the network reporter verified the genuineness of the document, which bore the forged signatures of Special Division chairman Minita Chico-Nazario, and Associate Justices Edilberto Sandoval and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro. — Delon Porcalla