MANILA, 23 March 2006 — Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada yesterday felt relieved that he had finally been allowed to air his side in the corruption case filed against him.
He also reiterated that he had been telling the truth in denying that he took about 130 million pesos in tobacco excise taxes from former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson.
“I am happy that I was given the chance to clear myself because at the impeachment trial against me, I had no chance to do so because the prosecutors walked out during the trial. No, I was not given the chance,” Estrada said in an interview during the noon recess of his trial for plunder at the Sandiganbayan yesterday.
In the interview that was broadcast live over national radio, Estrada added that he was pleased with how his testimony was proceeding. “The justices seem to believe what I say,” he said. “It is only hard to testify if you are not telling the truth.”
Estrada, who was ousted in a popular revolt that put in place his former Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is being tried before the country’s graft courts on allegations he took huge kickbacks while in office. Asked if he is willing to sit down with representatives of government to work out a deal of some sort, Estrada said it “depends on what they are going to talk about.”
Estrada also claimed he was framed. “These are trumped-up charges, a frame-up,” he said when asked about charges that he received 130 million pesos from Singson.
Singson accused Estrada of channeling the amount through him to Charlie “Atong” Ang. Estrada said it was Singson who asked the amount from the government through a budget request from then Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
Estrada also denied Ang delivered the money to his Polk Street, San Juan, residence, saying his garage was too small to accommodate Ang’s car. The deposed leader said the allegation was Singson’s way of getting back at him. Estrada said it was Singson who approached him during the 1998 presidential campaign and asked that he promise to release the excise taxes to Ilocos Sur farmers if he is elected president.
Estrada, who took the witness stand for the perjury and plunder charges slapped by the Arroyo government, insisted he has never asked for or received kickbacks from anomalous government transactions in his entire political career.
He said he was offered $14 million to approve a sovereign guarantee in a power deal with Argentine firm IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima), but he rejected it because it would have been disadvantageous to the government. “I was offered $14 million, or 700 million pesos, to put a sovereign guarantee on the deal. But I refused it. So why should I accept 130 million pesos from the tobacco excise tax?” he asked in the interview.
In another interview held during the court’s noontime recess, Estrada said over television that he was willing to sit down and talk to the Arroyo administration. Estrada appeared willing to compromise for the good of the country but emphasized that he had never conspired with those who reportedly planned to mount a coup against the government.
He denied links with leftist lawmaker Rep. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Col. Ariel Querubin, who allegedly plotted to oust the president. “I don’t know him personally. It’s impossible that I’m conspiring with Congressman Satur Ocampo,” Estrada said. Asked if he knew Lim and Querubin, Estrada said: “I have not met them personally.”
However, Estrada’s position as chairman emeritus of Saludo Sa Kawal Pilipino Foundation, which hands out donations to soldiers, is suspect. His son-in-law Manuel “Beaver” Lopez, a scion of the Lopez family that owns the giant ABS-CBN network, is the foundation’s president. But he said that donations made by his foundation were all for the welfare of soldiers.
