Estrada corruption trial reset anew

For the eighth time now, the corruption trial of deposed President Joseph Estrada in the Sandiganbayan was reset again, this time to Oct. 15.

It was supposed to resume yesterday.

Defense lawyers asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday for another reprieve to give them time to file their comment on the prosecution’s evidence against the former action star.

The prosecution rested its case in April and the defense was originally scheduled to present its side in June.

But the trial was delayed several times mainly due to a motion from Estrada seeking outright dismissal of the plunder charges against him.

Estrada maintains he was illegally ousted from the presidency and still enjoys parliamentary immunity.

He does not recognize the Sandiganbayan’s authority, saying he has no need to present evidence to dispute the charges against him.

He also claimed the Supreme Court erred when it swore in then Vice President Gloria Arroyo to replace him after declaring the presidency vacant during the January 2001 military-backed popular uprising that toppled him.

The Sandiganbayan rejected his motion, saying a lower court cannot overturn a ruling made by the Supreme Court, the country’s highest tribunal.

Meanwhile, one of Estrada’s co-accused, lawyer Edward Serapio, apologized to the Sandiganbayan also yesterday over a letter accusing the court of dragging its feet on Serapio’s petition for bail.

The court granted Serapio’s bail petition on Sept. 12 and set a P500,000 bond for his temporary liberty, leaving the former president as the only defendant who remains in detention.

Before the bail petition was granted, however, the court received a letter from the Ateneo Law Alumni Association, complaining that the court was not acting fast enough on their fellow alumnus’ petition.

One of the court’s magistrates, Justice Edilberto Sandoval, said the letter’s tone was "disrespectful."

"I have nothing to do with the resolution, your honors," Serapio said. "I apologize, your honors."

"It is apparent that the Ateneo Law Alumni Association did not make a thorough research of the records of the case first before imputing delay to the Sandiganbayan in the resolution of Attorney Serapio’s petition for bail," said Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, the court’s presiding magistrate.

In a two-page letter to the association, the court said Serapio lawyer Sabino Acut was to blame.

Serapio filed his bail petition in April 2001. However, Acut filed a petition for habeas corpus before the Supreme Court in July that year before the Sandiganbayan could make a decision.

The high tribunal did not issue a ruling until last January.

Serapio thanked the court for allowing him to post bail. "I intend to appear from time to time but I signed my waiver of appearance so that the court will not take it against me if I fail to attend the hearing," he said.

Serapio is accused of helping Estrada launder kickbacks from an illegal gambling protection racket.

Serapio was arrested along with Estrada and his son, former mayor Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada more than two years ago on charges of being accessory to plunder.

Serapio stands accused of having set up a charity foundation that was then allegedly used to launder P200 million in kickbacks that Estrada supposedly collected from illegal gambling operators during his 31-month presidency.

"As it appears now, the acts ascribed to Serapio, the most serious of which is his supposed creation of Erap Muslim Youth Foundation as a laundering facility for Estrada, is not absolutely indispensable to the crime of plunder," the Sandiganbayan court said in its ruling granting Serapio’s bail petition.

"From the standpoint of both justice and law, and for purposes of bail, Serapio should be granted provisional liberty for the added reason that if convicted, there stands the possibility that he will not be punished capitally."

The younger Estrada posted bail earlier this year, while the court has rejected a similar petition by Estrada, charged as a principal, to be granted provisional liberty.