Erap camp says Pelaez being used by Palace, Chavit

The camp of ousted President Joseph Estrada accused Malacañang and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson yesterday of "manipulating" former beauty queen Joelle Pelaez to attack the former leader again as his acquittal for plunder is now "imminent."

According to Estrada’s lawyer Rufus Rodriguez, Malacañang is desperate because the "illegal power grab" of President Arroyo will be reopened to public scrutiny and may strengthen the new impeachment cases against her should Estrada be acquitted.

On the other hand, Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas said the lawsuit Joelle intends to file against Estrada is the former president’s "karma."

Cagas also said Estrada’s "penchant for catchy one-liners to deny the charges against him may appeal to some, but this will not work in court. The estafa and money-laundering charges are so serious that they cannot simply be belied by (Estrada) just on his say-so. (Estrada) should offer convincing proof that he had no involvement at all in these crimes."

Meanwhile, Rodriguez said Singson is even more desperate, as he could face imprisonment following the removal of Mrs. Arroyo from office because he will no longer enjoy immunity from criminal charges.

Rodriguez, a former law school dean and immigration commissioner, also expressed sadness that Pelaez "allowed" Malacañang and Singson to manipulate her by rehashing the money laundering "script" utilized by her mother, Blanquita, who was convicted of estafa.

The "script" was also used by former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) chief Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus before the Senate in September 2001 to attack Estrada and his wife Sen. Luisa Ejercito and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Rodriguez added.

He said certifications issued by banks in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore proved that the Estrada couple had not maintained billion-dollar deposits with them, as was claimed by Corpus and Blanquita.

Estrada said he is prepared to face the charges Joelle will file against him in connection with his alleged money-laundering activities.

Rodriguez added that he will ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue hold departure orders against Joelle and her mother in relation to the criminal and civil cases the Estrada camp will be filing against them.

According to Rodriguez, they will file the libel case against Blanquita, Joelle, unidentified government officials and a reporter of a daily broadsheet immediately after they obtain a copy of the case Joelle intends to file against Estrada and officers of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

Joelle said she will file estafa charges against SMC executive Ramon Ang and other former UCPB officials.

Pelaez accused these SMC and UCPB officials of conspiring to use her name in laundering some P2 billion for Estrada, whom she said is a former suitor.

The 29-year-old Joelle alleged that Estrada and his cohorts forged her signature from March to December 2000 to make it appear as if she had traded government bonds and commercial paper worth millions of pesos, which she claimed was beyond her financial capability.

Bank documents supplied by Joelle reportedly showed a single transaction totaling P600 million.

Documents also showed that Joelle opened peso and dollar accounts in government-sequestered UCPB, sold P1 billion worth of securities to UCPB, and bought from UCPB P1 billion worth of debt instruments from firms heavily indebted to the bank.

As a counter-measure, Estrada instructed his lawyers to immediately file libel charges here and in the United States against Joelle for her accusations that he was involved in money-laundering activities.

The filing of the libel charges in the Philippines will be handled by the Rodriguez and Casila Law Office while the Siguion-Reyna, Montecillo and Ongsiako Law Office will handle the US litigation.

Estrada said he and his lawyers are ready to face the charges Joelle is set to file against Estrada and are also ready with the libel charges they intend to file against her.

He also denied Joelle’s allegation linking him to alleged money-laundering activities in an interview broadcast over radio station dzRH: "Wala akong kinalaman diyan. Di ko nga alam na may mga transakyon siya sa bangko. Di ko alam na nagkautang siya ng dalawang milyon na hindi niya nabayaran (I have nothing to do with that. I was not aware that she had transactions with the bank. I was not aware she borrowed P2 million that she was unable to pay)."

The detained 69-year-old former president also denied Joelle’s claims that he gave her a Rolex watch, a condominium unit and a BMW car as gifts. He also denied being her suitor and instead pointed to Singson as Joelle’s suitor: "Sa akin nga, wala akong relos, wristband lang ang sa akin. Palagay ko si Chavit, hindi ko naman niligawan yan. Kung niligawan ko ’yan, baka approved na yung handcuffs (deal). Baka naposasan ko na siya (I don’t own a watch, just a wristband. I think it was Chavit, because I did not woo her. If I had been her suitor, maybe the handcuffs (deal) would have been approved. I may have handcuffed her already)," he said.

Estrada was referring to the botched handcuffs deal between Joelle’s mother Blanquita and Lacson, during Lacson’s tenure as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief that resulted in estafa charges being filed against Blanquita.

Cagas said that "the alleged courtship" between Joelle and Estrada "could provide some leads as to why (Estrada) became interested in Joelle. He must have tried getting Joelle to use her for laundering money."

He added that Estrada is trying to discredit Joelle by claiming that, during their meetings, he had no plan to court her since she was only a beauty contest runner-up, while the Pelaezes were only interested in landing the PNP handcuffs supply contract.

"No denial or fancy tales can explain away the documents where Joelle’s signatures were forged to launder money in the US," Cagas added.

Joelle returned to the Philippines early this week to file charges against Estrada and UCPB and SMC officials for allegedly using her signature in laundering P2.07 billion worth of transactions in government securities and other debts instruments.

Cagas also advised Estrada to focus on his legal woes instead of threatening to boycott the 2007 elections: "People will not believe him anyway. All this misuse of his remaining political clout is just an attempt to distract attention from his criminal cases."