Cuevas accuses GMA of influencing Erap trial

Former Supreme Court Justice Serafin Cuevas accused President Arroyo yesterday of indirectly influencing the Sandiganbayan which is trying former President Joseph Estrada for perjury and the capital offense of plunder.

Cuevas, who also served as Estrada’s justice secretary and joined Estrada’s legal team last week, said Mrs. Arroyo’s comments to a group of Japanese journalists on the case could influence the anti-graft court.

The President told the Japanese reporters last week that she would not pardon Estrada if he is convicted but would commute his sentence to life imprisonment if he is meted the death sentence.

Estrada was arraigned last week for plunder after he allegedly amassed a personal wealth of more than P4 billion during his 31 months in office.

Cuevas noted there had been instances when the impartiality of the justices hearing Estrada’s case had been questioned by the defense lawyers and that they could rule "in favor of what the President would like."

"It is not definite that (Arroyo’s comments) will be affecting them but the message is there," Cuevas told ABS-CBN television.

"Will it not be better for the President to have stated ‘Let’s not discuss that matter because the case hasn’t even started being tried’?"

Cuevas warned that the President’s statement did not sit well with Estrada’s many supporters from the urban poor sector.

"The issue of Estrada in connection with this plunder case is highly volatile," Cuevas said.

Principal Estrada lawyer Rene Saguisag also asked the President to stop making statements that would tend to "pre-judge" Estrada’s pending cases.

"Maybe she meant well but it is far from clear that she was being fair," Saguisag told the Sandiganbayan in a manifestation.

"If the magistrates who would finally rule on his case in the Sandiganbayan or elsewhere have qualms over the death penalty, she in effect is signaling them not to worry, she would not implement it," Saguisag added.

But Malacañang dismissed suggestions that Mrs. Arroyo had "pre-judged" Estrada’s cases when she made the statement to the Japanese reporters.

"The interview with the Japanese correspondents was actually a hypothetical question. The way the Japanese reporter put it was, ‘If ever Mr. Estrada is convicted, will you execute him?’," Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said.

"The President said that personally, she does not believe in the death penalty so she would likely commute it. I cannot add more to what the President said," Tiglao explained.

Tiglao stressed the President could not be said to have been "out of line" because she is also entitled to her own opinion and that the privilege to pardon or commute criminal sentences is bestowed solely and absolutely on the President.

Tiglao said Mrs. Arroyo’s belief in Estrada’s guilt or innocence matters little since Cuevas himself had explicitly admitted that Estrada may have been guilty of some violation.

Cuevas told print and broadcast reporters during Estrada’s arraignment for plunder that the former president may be guilty of some violations but "decidedly not plunder."

Tiglao said Mrs. Arroyo’s statement to the Japanese reporters would not likely affect Sandiganbayan magistrates but Cuevas’ statement, coming from a former SC justice, would more likely influence the anti-graft court.

"The President has never attempted to influence the Sandiganbayan. She could have attempted to influence the Sandiganbayan to postpone the arrest of Estrada until after the elections but she didn’t. She doesn’t want to," he stressed.

Tiglao also denied reports the Department of Justice (DOJ) was allegedly set to file new graft charges against Estrada’s wife, Sen. Luisa Ejercito.

"The Secretary of Justice himself was surprised about reports that a case will be filed against Mrs. Ejercito. There is no such case. Even the Ombudsman hasn’t attempted to file a case against her," Tiglao said.

Ejercito, on the other hand, said on Friday she was willing to join her husband should the government file charges against her.

Meanwhile, the DOJ asked the Supreme Court to reverse its June 29 ruling which prohibited live media coverage of Estrada’s trial and allow at least one camera inside the courtroom.

"This is a win-win formula that allows everyone to enjoy the light of truth – the living medium for genuine national reconciliation," the government said in 22-page urgent motion for reconsideration.

"Live media coverage will not violate his (Estrada’s) right to due process of law because the procedure established by law to protect life, liberty and property will still be strictly followed," the DOJ said.

"Whether the accused will be afforded an impartial trial depends on the magistrates, not on the live media accounts," the DOJ argued through Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee, assistant chief state counsel Rosalinda Vicente and state counsel Claro Flores.