MANILA, 25 January 2007 — Charlie “Atong” Ang, better known as the gambling pal of ousted President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, admitted yesterday in court that he helped the disgraced leader embezzle 130 million pesos ($2.6 million) in tobacco taxes in 1999.
He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of bribery during his arraignment at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, according to Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio.
Ang was Estrada’s co-accused in a case of plunder, an offense that carries a life term in jail.
But with the plea bargain, he could be sentenced to only six-years in prison and avoid a possible sentence of 40 years for plunder, Villa-Ignacio explained.
Villa-Ignacio said Ang also agreed to return 25 million pesos ($510,000) to the government, his alleged share of the tax kickbacks. He said the Sandiganbayan will decide next week whether to accept the plea bargain agreement.
Ang’s admission strengthened the government’s case against the deposed leader, who has been on trial for plunder since he was ousted in 2001, Villa-Ignacio said. “We are very happy with this development,” he said. “Here is one principal player saying the allegation is correct.”
Ang, who was a consultant of state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) during Estrada’s short-lived presidency, was under heavy police escort as he was brought to the court in Manila’s suburb of Quezon City.
Estrada, who is under detention at his rest house in Tanay town, east of Manila, rejected Ang’s testimony, saying that his former pal was coerced into making the admission.
“This is the reason he was subjected to harassment and coercion for so many years so that he could be convinced to give them what they wanted even if it isn’t the truth,” he said through his lawyers. Estrada’s spokesman Rufus Rodriguez said, however, the deal won’t affect the case since it has not been introduced as evidence against Estrada.
“As far as Estrada is concerned, it does not exist at all,” Rodriguez said.
Estrada is accused of amassing about 4 billion pesos ($81 million) in payoffs from illegal gambling operations, tobacco tax kickbacks and commissions.
He also is charged with perjury for allegedly falsely declaring his assets.
He has denied any wrongdoing and accused his successor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, of conspiring with the country’s elite, Roman Catholic church leaders and some senior military officers to oust him.
Rodriguez said that if Ang is presented as a witness against Estrada, they will confront him with a statement he made during a Senate investigation in 2000 in which he denied there had been any tax kickbacks. Rodriguez recalled that Estrada’s defense lawyers argued during his plunder trial that it was physically impossible for Ang to carry 130 million pesos in cash — which would have weighed 130 kilograms — into the former president’s suburban residence.
Lawyers for the former film star, overthrown in a popular revolt in 2001, ended their five-month defense against plunder charges in August and expect the court to make a decision soon.
Ang escaped to the United States after Estrada was removed from power but was arrested in November 2001 and held for more than a year in a federal prison in Las Vegas before he was extradited last year to face corruption charges in Manila.
He was among Estrada’s closest associates even before Estrada was elected president in 1998.
Video footage showing Ang, Estrada and others playing a card game in a local casino has been shown on local television during the campaign to unseat Estrada. (With reports from agencies)
