Rehearsed testimonies crumble under grilling - GOTCHA by Jarius Bondoc

Sen. Rene Cayetano says that Yoly Ricaforte sounded well-rehearsed by her lawyers when she testified on Jueteng-gate. But she nonetheless lent credibility to Gov. Luis Singson’s admission of collecting jueteng protection money for Joseph Estrada. It was no different from how John Osmeña and Tessie Oreta corroborated Singson’s disbursement ledger entries two weeks ago by returning the P1 million each that they got from him in April 1999.

Most damning was Ricaforte’s statement that she gave "a certain Attorney Serapio" six checks for P200 million last September. Singson has claimed, and presidential political adviser Lito Banayo has confirmed, that an Atty. Edward Serapio is Estrada’s personal lawyer and, until early this year, assistant political adviser.

Ricaforte frequently lapsed into the convenient "I don’t know" and "I don’t remember." But she swore she went to Serapio’s office in Ortigas Center, Pasig, to personally hand over the checks. It’s the same address of a law firm that the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported last week for fronting as buyer of Estrada’s mistresses’ mansions.

Ricaforte denied being the eyes and ears of anybody, certainly not of Estrada whom she claimed is a mere acquaintance. She insisted she’s an employee of Singson’s Fountainbleu Casino, where the governor’s name appears nowhere as officer and from which she receives a whopping P80,000 a month. Yet she said all she does for him is revise disbursement entries in the ledger once a month. Senators whistled in amazement at how anybody can command such a salary for clerical work.

Intense grilling elicited the admission that she’s a board director of San Miguel Corp.’s partly-sequestered Campo Carne Inc. Presidents name such directors, and the Presidential Commission on Good Government merely notifies the sequestered firms. So much for being a mere Estrada acquaintance.

Cayetano says that good rehearsals notwithstanding, false or faulty testimonies can crumble under examination. Ricaforte’s claims of no association with Estrada or knowledge of jueteng collections were belied by Fountainbleu finance manager Menchu Ichon. Testifying spontaneously and with no prepared statement, Ichon detailed how she and Ricaforte went to Malacañang on June 15, 1999 in Undersecretary Orestes Ricaforte’s official Toyota Camry, how they frequently motored to Fountainbleu in Clark Air Base to meet with Atong Ang in the Lexus that Estrada gave the Ricafortes, how jueteng payoffs were delivered to their Manila office every 15 days, and how Ricaforte and Mayor Jinggoy Estrada acquired the ledger codenames "Madame Auring" and "Jingle Bells."

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Events are unfolding too fast. Ricaforte and Ichon’s testimonies yesterday dampened the desired effect of Estrada’s late-Tuesday night taped broadcast. Two-and-a-half years into cronyism and six mistresses after, Estrada promised to change his evil ways, then extended his hand in reconciliation with critics. He even offered to share power with Vice President Gloria Macapagal through the Economic Coordinating Council, and with ex-Presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos through the National Security Council. In the wake of a fast-sinking economy, he is trying to throw the ball into the opposition court. And to drive home his point that the opposition has no choice but to play the game his way, he paraded his AFP and PNP generals in a display of loyalty à la Marcos.

Too little too late, though. Thirteen major business associations have joined the thousands of labor federations, civic and church groups, school administrations and student councils, and political parties in calling for Estrada to resign. And the insensitive show of military force only steeled protesters’ belief that the problem is Estrada himself.

Confidence in Estrada is eroding as fast as the peso value. Even citizens who have remained neutral so far are now shaking their heads at how Estrada is borrowing Interior Sec. Fred Lim’s popularity – top senatorial candidate in two early surveys – by appointing him chief implementor of NSC decisions and chief investigator of the mistresses’ mansions. They wonder how far Lim would go about such investigation, and snicker at cellphone text jokes that all he can do is spray-paint the mansions the way he did to suspected drug pushers’ houses.

Opposition forces aren’t about to bite the power-sharing carrot. They believe it’s designed to make the public forget the 10 counts cited in a case to impeach Estrada. But the President is trying to buy time, delay inevitable early departure. He wants everyone to follow the constitutional process of impeachment. "I will answer the charges at the proper time," he promises. But citizens suspect that time will never come – not with the way his LAMP partymates in Congress keep delaying the proceedings.

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INTERACTION. William Tang, aol.com: Fomenting a class war is treason for which Erap must be taken out of office (Gotcha, 28 Oct. 2000).

Joey Legarda, Bangkal, Makati: You couldn’t have used a better analogy on how much more the peso will drop; its fate is in the hands of foot-dragging congressmen. If Erap complains that he’s being treated like a criminal, it’s because he’s treating Jueteng-gate like a master criminal would – by making it a game of hiring the best lawyers. If he’s hurting, the economy is dying.

Ben Bie, aol.com: Remember what I wrote months ago – just give Erap enough rope to hang himself? Well, the noose is tightening. And what does ex-Chief Justice Narvasa mean by upholding rule of law instead of mob rule? Wasn’t the gagging of Singson by LAMP congressmen mob rule?

Cory Sarte, Novaliches, QC: Is the deliberate delay of the impeachment case what Narvasa means by rule of law?

Vida Hilado, lasaltech.com: I can’t fathom why supposedly wise, decent Cabinet men like Roxas, Pardo and Lim stand by him despite all the scandals that rocked his tenure (Gotcha, 25 Oct. 2000).

Augustus Mamaril, U.P: Erap will do a Nixon by resigning, but they’re still rushing the script patterned after the hit movie All The President’s Men. And given the reason for his fall, the title would be All The President’s Women.

Jun Angeles, pacific.net: Senate hearings revealed a chilling reality: How easy it is to steal, launder, divert public funds. To this that this is just one case.

Thank you, Bing Ramos, R. Anonuevo, Paciano Fernandez, Narciso Ner, E.C. Ibazeta, Karissa Villa, Ritchie Alter, Eric C., Jimmy Munar, Mel Manahan, Steffi Ruiz, Dr. Camilo de Santiago, Joji Tan, Ramon Bongat, J.C. Celis, Albert Clavo, Earl Dimayuga, Louie Tordillo, Romy Lim, Kim Sison, Aureo Endaya, George Pangan, Roland Repato, Roberto Madera, Willy Gonzaga, Bob Zarate, Luciano de Guzman, Edward Saclayan, Ali Dapogi, Jun Francisco, Nicky Perlas, Dr. Thomas Moran.

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