Loi denies involvement in failed mutiny

Sen. Luisa Ejercito denied yesterday any part in the July 27 failed military uprising, as Malacañang dared lawyers of her husband, ousted President Joseph Estrada, to rebut before the public allegations that he was behind the attempt to overthrow President Arroyo.

In a privileged speech at the Senate, Mrs. Estrada said "some sectors" have been concocting stories against her and her family for political ends.

"I deny these malicious allegations," she said. "I could not understand how some sectors could twist and fabricate truth if only for fiendish ends. Such reckless and wanton disregard for truth is despicable and certainly has no place in a democratic setting."

Mrs. Estrada said she has instructed her staff to "dig into pertinent records" involving the vans, which the government insists were used by rebel soldiers in an attempt to raid the Navy armories at Sangley Point and Fort San Felipe in Cavite.

"I have instructed my staff to dig into pertinent records and gather evidence not only to protect my reputation, which of late has been abused, maligned and severely attacked by these unscrupulous individuals, but more importantly to serve the interest of truth and justice," she said.

Ejercito said she has been "religiously and judiciously" discharging her functions as senator of the Republic since she was elected to office three years ago.

"My track record of service shall speak for itself," she said. "Since I joined this august body, I have completely dissociated myself from any private activities or economic (entities), including the so-called corporation being attributed to me in the name of JELP."

The senator also said she would be willing to join her husband in detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City if the government really has the goods on her.

"Why don’t they arrest me if they have evidence against me?" she asked.

Speaking over state-run Radyo ng Bayan, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Estrada and her son, Jude were implicated in the failed mutiny by Maj. Gen. Pedro Cabuay, acting military intelligence chief, during the Feliciano Commission’s first hearing on Tuesday.

"Perhaps, it’s up to the (Estrada camp) to explain why their vehicles were found in those places during the time of the... failed coup d’etat," he said.

"These were the evidence that were gathered and they did not come out of thin air, and it just so happened that the family of our former president were linked," he said.

Bunye said the testimony of General Cabuay was based on the recovery of two of three vehicles.

"All we can say is all these announcements were based on hard evidence and based on the testimonies of what we consider as reliable witnesses," he said.

One of the vehicles was recovered near Cavite, where mutinous troops had planned to attack the Navy armory at Sangley Point, he added.

Meanwhile, the government is close to pinpointing "several" more "staging areas" used by mutinous troops in the July 27 siege of the posh Oakwood Premier apartments and Glorietta mall in Makati’s central business district.

Speaking on the television program "Strictly Politics" Tuesday night, Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida stopped short of saying that the properties being investigated are owned by people identified with Estrada.

"This time I cannot name them," he said. "But we are looking into the identities of these persons."

However, Calida said the "cast of characters" tagged to have aided the mutiny included former senior deputy executive secretary Ramon Cardenas and former starlet Laarni Enriquez, one of the women in Estrada’s life.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed rebellion charges against Cardenas after a police raid of his house in Dasmariñas Village, Makati yielded paraphernalia allegedly belonging to the mutineers.

Calida said more personalities are expected to be implicated in the failed military uprising.

There exists an "undeniable civilian component, if not a political component" to the failed attempt to overthrow the government, he added.

Calida said Liezel Magpoc, registered owner of a house in Mandaluyong City allegedly used by mutinous troops as a "staging point" for the July 27 siege of Oakwood Premier apartment building and nearby Glorietta mall, swore in an affidavit that Estrada asked her to delay its submission to the justice department.

"It would seem that now, the weather vane so to speak is now pointing towards the people I’ve mentioned," he said.

Calida said abandoned vehicles seized by the military, which were allegedly used by the mutineers in a failed raid on Navy armories at Sangley Point and Fort San Felipe in Cavite, contained documents that were traced to a company owned by Estrada and Senator Ejercito. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Ann Corvera