MANILA, Philippines - Former President Joseph Estrada filed yesterday a libel suit against business tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco and the Philippine Daily Inquirer over allegations that he coerced the businessman to sell his shares in the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the country’s largest telecommunications firm.
Accompanied by his lawyers led by Jose Flaminiano, his son San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito and former senator Ernesto Maceda, Estrada filed the complaint before City Prosecutor Tomas Ricalde Jr. at the San Juan City Prosecutors Office.
In his six-page complaint Estrada also named as respondents Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) publisher Isagani Yambot, editor-in-chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc and reporters Daxim Lucas, Christine Avendano and Doris Dumlao.
PDI published the story entitled “Erap bullied me, says Yuchengco-Taipan confirms coercion in PLDT deal,” which was based on a privilege speech delivered by Senator Panfilo Lacson last Monday.
In filing the complaint, Estrada denied Yuchengco’s allegation and said the news report was based on false and malicious statements.
“Respondent Yuchengco’s statements imputing to me the commission of serious crimes are mere fabrications. I vehemently deny having committed any unlawful or criminal act against respondent Yuchengco or the members of his family in relation to the sale made by the respondent of his Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp. (PTIC)/PLDT shares in favor of First Pacific (First Pacific Co. Ltd),” the former president said in his complaint.
The former president also questioned why it took the businessman more than ten years before making the claim.
“The supposed criminal acts imputed to me happened in 1998. There is absolutely no showing that the incidents subject of respondent Yuchengco’s questioned statements were reported to the police authorities or to other law enforcement agencies. The long, unexplained delay in asserting a claim casts grave doubts not only on the personal credibility of the respondent but also on the veracity of his statements,” he further explained.
Yuchengco earlier confirmed that he was pressured to sign conveyance of his shares in PTIC in 1998 to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the local unit of the Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd.
The biggest shareholder of PLDT back then was PTIC, which owned about 28 percent of the telecommunications firm.
In a privilege speech last Monday, Lacson said Estrada used the Philippine National Police (PNP) to harass Yuchengco by threatening to arrest his youngest son and namesake, Alfonso “Tito” Yuchengco III, on trumped-up drug charges.
As to the liability of the Inquirer, Estrada said the respondents caused the printing, publication and circulation of false and malicious statements without first validating them.
“It is clear from what has been said above, that all the elements of the crime of libel are present in this case. The defamatory statements of respondent Yuchengco and their publication by the Inquirer were meant to destroy my integrity and reputation and ill timed to derail my political plans,” he said.
Estrada has yet to ask for monetary compensation in his suit but there are reports that he would demand damages ranging from P10 million to P20 million, which he would give to the planholders of the Yuchengco family’s collapsed pre-need firm Pacific Education Plans Inc.
Flaminiano says his client has not yet asked for a specific amount of damages since his only objective is to clear his name.
Estrada also said he might also file libel charges against former Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Perfecto Yasay, who claimed the former president bagged P2.5 billion in commissions from the PLDT sale.
Estrada maintained he did not benefit from the sale of the PLDT stocks, which was a private commercial transaction.
Ex-envoy denies harassing Yuchengco
Former Ambassador to the United States Albert del Rosario denied allegations that he harassed Yuchengco to force him to sell his shares in PLDT.
De Rosario issued a formal statement that was posted yesterday at abscbNews.com on his alleged participation in the reported police harassment of Yuchengco in 1998.
Del Rosario was not yet with the government but was part of First Pacific that eventually bought Yuchengco’s shares in PTIC. Del Rosario was the Philippine ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2006.
“The fictional account in relation to the allegations on PLDT can be taken in the context of Ambassador Yuchengco’s statements as contained in his book. According to Yuchengco, I forced him to sell his PLDT shares with 10 (men carrying) rifles in a visit to his office,” Del Rosario said in the statement.
“In deference to his (Yuchengco’s) seniority and reported illness, I would like to respectfully ask Ambassador Yuchengco if he is prepared to publicly and specifically affirm the veracity of his written account, or if this was, after all, a mere display of his incredible imagination,” he added.
“The fact of the matter is, based on the actual transaction, Ambassador Yuchengco retained his PLDT shares and received cash as part of the sale of his PTIC shares. He did not lose his PLDT shares,” Del Rosario said.
CBCP urges Erap, Lacson: go to court
Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), yesterday advised former President Joseph Estrada and Senator Panfilo Lacson to bring their accusations to court.
Lagdameo said he was not pleased seeing two legislators, Senator Lacson and Estrada’s son Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, mudslinging on the Senate floor.
“What I want to see is that they bring their issues to court so that their issues would be given solutions, otherwise this would just be limited to Congress and after a while, this would just be forgotten,” Lagdameo said.
He added that the personal dispute of lawmakers in Congress would not result in the crafting of laws. “What they are just doing is destroying each other’s reputation.”
It will be ‘bloody’
Sen. Edgardo Angara does not see a peaceful end to the bickering of the Estradas and Lacson.
“It is bloody. We have not seen the end. It’s bloody in a figurative sense unless someone makes it a reality,” Angara said.
Angara foresees more shocking revelations to come out of Estrada and Lacson’s verbal mudslinging.
“I think more revelations will come out. Objectively, when you look back on it, the beneficiary will be the public because they get enlightened. So the winner here will be the people,” Angara said.
Lacson has threatened to implicate
Estrada in the disappearance of former Pagcor employee Edgar Bentain in 1998.
Bentain was believed to be the source of a videotape that showed Estrada playing high-stakes baccarat at the VIP room of the casino in Manila.
Angara did not discount the possibility that Estrada might decide to defer his plans to seek re-election due to the magnitude of the accusations.
Angara said it is possible that Estrada might withdraw from the race and endorse a candidate.
Angara said the elections next year will be a four-way fight with Senators Manuel Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party), Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (Liberal Party), Francis Escudero or Loren Legarda (under the Nationalist People’s Coalition) and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) running for the presidency.
Angara, president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, said his party would have a convention next month to determine the presidential candidate that they will support. With Cecile Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan, Christina Mendez, Rhodina Villanueva