Solon seeks probe of Erap men involved in smuggling

Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera urged President Arroyo yesterday to order the investigation of cronies of deposed President Joseph Estrada who are reportedly involved in smuggling.

Herrera, a senatorial candidate of the administration People Power Coalition, said the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Customs can get from former Finance Secretary Edgardo Espiritu the leads on the alleged smuggling activities of several Estrada cronies.

He said that if not for concerns about his safety, Espiritu would have named these smugglers when he testified against Estrada during the latter’s impeachment trial.

The former finance chief said Customs had drawn up a list of smugglers, and that he was stunned to find that many of those in the list were the ones he usually saw in Malacañang hobnobbing with the then president.

When pressed to reveal their names, Espiritu, his voice trembling, told the Senate sitting as an impeachment court that doing so could cost him his life.

Since Estrada and his cronies are no longer in power, Herrera said the smugglers Espiritu feared to name should now be unmasked and investigated.

"Some of them might have promoted corruption in the highest office in the land and contributed huge sums to the Jose Velarde accounts," Herrera said, referring to the rich bank accounts which Estrada allegedly opened under a false name.

Herrera added that at least one of Estrada’s friends, Zamboanga-based trader Lepeng Wee, has been accused of involvement in smuggling.

"The report that Wee brought in 39 drums of highly toxic materials tend to confirm rumors that he has been engaged in smuggling, which, if true, is why he gravitated to Estrada in the first place," he said.

Wee, for his part, said he welcomes the filing of charges against him for the alleged importation of toxic chemicals from Sabah, Malaysia.

In an interview in Zamboanga, Wee said the filing of charges will eventually clear him on the case.

"It’s not my property anyway and the filing of charges will even clear me," he said, adding that the accusation against him was only a sign of the brewing politics in the city where he is based.

Wee is running for Zamboanga mayor under the opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino party. He accused his rival, Zamboanga Rep. Celso Lobregat, of being behind those charging him with smuggling dangerous chemicals into the country.

The alleged toxic chemicals arrived in Zamboanga in June last year on board a ship from Malaysia and were immediately confiscated by Customs officials.

The party-list group Bayan Muna is demanding that former Environment Secretary Antonio Cerilles explain why the said shipment was allowed into the country. – With Roel Pareño and Jose Rodel Clapano