Estrada testifies anew, calls Chavit a liar

Testifying for the second time in his plunder trial before a special division of the Sandiganbayan, former President Joseph Estrada called the government’s star witness, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, a liar.

In his defense, the 68-year-old Estrada said yesterday a reenactment conducted at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last year had proved that the P130 million in tax kickbacks that Singson claimed was delivered to his Greenhills, San Juan home in four boxes could not fit inside the containers.

"That just goes to show that he is a liar," he told the court.

Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio asked the court to strike out Estrada’s allegations as hearsay, but the justices decided to allow them as part of Estrada’s "narration."

Clad in a barong Tagalog, Estrada said it was Singson who pocketed millions of pesos in tobacco excise tax earmarked for the Ilocos Sur provincial government, as revealed by investigations of then National Bureau of Investigation regional director Carlos Saunar.

"Kailanman ay hindi ko siya inutusan na takpan niya ang kanyang (I never ordered him to cover up his) unliquidated cash advances," he told the court during direct examination by his lead counsel, retired Manila fiscal Jose Flaminiano.

"Humigpit nang humigpit sa kanya ang Commission on Audit kaya pilit niyang pinapasa sa akin ang mga kasalanan niya (The Commission on Audit became harder on him so he was really trying to pin the blame on me)," Estrada added.

Shown a check and bank documents allegedly covering the transfer of the kickbacks, Estrada told the court: "I do not recognize these documents and I have nothing to do with these documents."

Estrada also denied that he knew certain persons named by Singson as having served as bagmen for the ousted leader.

"From the beginning, he was already accustomed to falsification," he said.

Estrada told the court that he met Singson at about 11 p.m. in his hotel room in San Francisco when he was on a state visit to the United States.

In that meeting, Singson, who was accompanied by then Caloocan City Rep. Luis "Baby" Asistio, asked him to transfer COA auditor Agustin Chan from Ilocos Sur to another place, he added.

Estrada said Singson told him Chan was being "uncooperative," and that he later learned that Chan had been issuing demand letters to Singson for his unliquidated cash advances.

He told Singson he could not order Chan’s transfer as the COA was an independent constitutional body, he added.

Estrada said Singson insisted that he could do it, as he was the President and all he needed to do was to call the COA chairman and arrange the transfer.

"Medyo inaantok na ako, kaya sinagot ko siya, ‘Mahirap sa ’yo pare, sarili mo lang ang tinitingnan mo, dapat bigyan mo din ng proteksyon’ ang (I was already a little sleepy so I told him, ‘Pal you’re only thinking of yourself. You must also protect the) Office of the President,’" he said.

Afterwards Singson left grudgingly, he added.

Estrada told the court that he only became aware that Chan was the Ilocos Sur COA auditor during a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

While he was detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, he heard that Chan had been killed in an ambush in Ilocos Sur, he added.

The Singson camp, on the other hand, clarified that Singson was not the Ilocos Sur governor at the time of the Chan killing.

Estrada said the cases against Singson were elevated by the Office of the Ombudsman to the Sandiganbayan after he had left Malacañang.

However, the charges were later dismissed by the anti-graft court, he added.

When asked by Flaminiano the reason why the charges against Singson had been dismissed, Estrada said the Ilocos Sur governor was granted immunity by the government in exchange for his testimony against him.

"What I understand by immunity is that these cases will be passed to me and he (Singson) will be given immunity," he said.

On the other hand, Singson said the defense was just "resurrecting" past cases that had been already settled.

"Lahat ito ay pinagawa ni Estrada sa NBI para ipressure ako not to testify (Estrada ordered the NBI to do all these to pressure me not to testify) in the impeachment trial," he said.

"Settled na yung unliquidated cash advances ko sa National Tobacco Administration (My unliquidated cash advances with the National Tobacco Administration have been settled)."

The other cases the NBI has filed against him were either withdrawn or were dismissed by the court, he added.

Meanwhile, former senator Rene Saguisag, another lawyer of Estrada, asked the special division yesterday to lay down the ground rules on sub judice, or the discussion of a case during trial.

"The court should restrain all parties and refrain from talking about the case," he said.

However, Saguisag backpedaled when the court asked if he thought that defense and prosecution lawyers should be barred from granting media interviews.

Villa Ignacio also asked Saguisag his opinion on the sub judice rule.

"Does it include exhibition of a film, supposedly a documentary proclaiming the former president as not guilty on all counts?" he asked. Villa Ignacio was referring to the "Triumph of Truth" video CD being distributed by Estrada’s camp to reporters.

Villa Ignacio said the rule on sub judice cannot be enforced absolutely as the public has the right to know what is happening inside the court room.

"Media is entitled to information and the public get their information from the media," he said.

"We would agree to a modified gag order, but not to an absolute one as this would constitute a gag order."

Saguisag later told the court that he would be modifying his request regarding the sub judice rule.

"But we are not for a total ban," he said.

No gag

Meanwhile, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita de Castro, special division chairwoman, advised all parties to stop publicly commenting on the case.

"This is not a gag order," she said. "It is just procedure. We call on all parties not to grant any interviews after the procedure." However, as the court has yet to rule on Saguisag’s request with finality, lawyers from both panels freely entertained the media during the trial’s noontime break.

"This matter should be thoroughly studied by the parties considering the right to free expression and the freedom of the press," Flaminiano said.

On the other hand, Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz said non-lawyers could not be prevented from commenting on Estrada’s cases.

"You cannot prevent non-lawyers from making their comments on the case," he said. "That is why we are imposing the order on the lawyers. Both panels have been violating."

Flaminiano said the ousted leader may need two more court sessions to wrap up his testimony. — With Katherine Adraneda, AP, AFP