Atong to court: Accept plea deal

Charlie "Atong" Ang, a co-accused of ousted President Joseph Estrada in his plunder case, asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to consider his plea bargain offer, saying the government would gain from the deal.

In a memorandum, Ang’s lawyers told the anti-graft court’s special division that apart from saving time and money trying to prove the guilt of their client, the government would gain P25 million and a witness in some cases it is prosecuting.

"The usual plea bargaining agreement is such that the only benefit that the State gets is being able to save on time and expense in having to prove the guilt of the accused," read the memorandum of lawyers Alfredo Villamor and Ruth Castelo. "In the instant case, the State stands to gain a lot more."

Ang had struck a plea-bargaining deal with government prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser offense of corrupting a public official, punishable by a maximum of six years in prison.

In exchange, Ang offered to testify in government cases in which he has personal knowledge and pay back the P25 million he took from the P130-million tobacco excise tax for Ilocos Sur.

If convicted of plunder, Ang faces life imprisonment since Congress had abolished the death penalty.

Ang’s lawyers said their client is nonetheless assured of getting a six- year prison term if the plea bargain is allowed by the court.

"On the other hand, accused Ang nonetheless gets a conviction of a maximum period of six years imprisonment apart from the fact that since he was arrested in the latter part of 2001, he has been under detention and his liberty curtailed by reason of the instant case," the lawyers said.

The lawyers said Ang is willing to testify in other cases of which he has personal knowledge despite the danger to his life and the safety of his family.

"For all we know, accused Ang’s assistance might turn out to be invaluable and indispensably significant in the successful prosecution of said cases," the lawyers said.

Ang’s lawyers said in returning the P25 million to the government, their client will sell his house in Corinthian Gardens in Quezon City, which his family had acquired even before he met Estrada.

"It must be noted that the evidence of the prosecution pertinent to the predicate charges involving jueteng and excise tax show that it was only in connection with the latter that he had actual financial gains in the amount of P25 million," the lawyers said.

Last Monday, Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz said in open court that Ang could not plead guilty to corrupting a public official in relation to indirect bribery as he merely admitted to delivering the P130 million to Estrada.