Prosecutors vow more explosive testimonies

The 11-member House panel prosecuting President Estrada promised the public yesterday that it would present more explosive testimonies as his impeachment trial progresses.

"We are heartened by the fact that we closed the week with the seamless testimony of Emma Lim, and it will be the likes of her that the prosecution will be presenting in the future," said Marinduque Rep. Edmund Reyes, the panel’s spokesman.

He said the opening-day statement of Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo, one of the prosecutors, and Lim’s narration of how she collected jueteng money from three people identified with the President "are just curtain raisers."

"The main event or events are yet to come. The case is building up and this will be sustained by the prosecution," he said.

Reyes explained that "a lot of subterfuge and layering were used to hide the illegal gambling money and tobacco tax kickback that eventually reached the beneficiary — the President."

He reiterated the prosecution panel’s confidence that at the end of the trial, they would have accomplished their task of proving that Mr. Estrada is guilty and should be removed from office.

In her testimony last Friday, Lim narrated in detail how she collected jueteng money from presidential son and San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, suspected Central Luzon jueteng king Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, who is a kumpadre of Mr. Estrada, and Presidential Assistant for Bicol Affairs Anton Prieto.

Lim said she collected the money upon orders of her boss, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, a former gambling and drinking buddy of the President.

Singson had accused Mr. Estrada of receiving more than P500 million from illegal gambling operators and in kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes. He had claimed that the Chief Executive had ordered him to take over the job of collecting jueteng money from presidential friend Charlie "Atong" Ang.

Also yesterday, in an interview with radio station dzRH, Arroyo said Lim’s testimony showed that layering was used not only to hide the ownership of the controversial mansions allegedly belonging to the President and his mistresses, but also the flow of jueteng money to the Chief Executive.

"That’s layering. Let the money go round so they won’t get caught: from Prieto, Jinggoy and Pineda to Singson and then to the President," he said.

The same mode of concealment was used in the case of the "Boracay" mansion in New Manila, Quezon City, he said.

He said a P142-million Equitable Bank check was given by a mysterious Jose Valhalla to presidential friend Jose Luis Yulo. Yulo deposited it in his Bank of the Philippine Islands account, transferred the money to St. Peter’s Holdings which then paid the Madrigal family P86 million for Boracay.

"Valhalla and Erap are one and the same, and St. Peter’s Holdings was formed by Erap lawyer Edward Serapio to hide the President’s ownership of Boracay," he stressed.

Arroyo and Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno are handling the bribery charge and another accusation related to the President’s alleged illegal wealth, including the controversial mansions.

The Makati congressman also decried what he described as the presence of "defense judges" among senators sitting as judges in Mr. Estrada’s impeachment trial.

He specifically named Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile as a "defense judge" for exposing a few lapses that some prosecutors committed during the first two days of trial.

"Binubuking kami. Sinasabi nila na mahina ang prosecution," complained Arroyo.

Enrile had predicted that his ruling party boss, the President, will be acquitted by the Senate tribunal. The same prediction was earlier made by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who also belongs to the administration party.

At least two prosecutors were criticized for mishandling the opening-day testimony of former Philippine National Police chief Deputy Director General Roberto Lastimoso. Some anti-Estrada groups have called them Trojan horses.

But Representative Reyes, the prosecution panel’s spokesman, said "there are no Trojan horses in the prosecution, only workhorses."

"What we have here is a stable of patriots who are investing time and effort and putting their careers on the line to bring decency in the highest office of the land," he said.

He said if there were opening day lapses, "those were just minor bumps in the road, and we have gone past them."

"The prosecution’s case will pick up steam as the days go by," he added.