Opposition and pro-administration senators clashed yesterday over moves to avert what was described as "a gathering political crisis" arising from deposed President Joseph Estrada’s dismissal of his defense lawyers and his bid to be allowed to seek medical treatment in the US.
Three opposition senators — Blas Ople, Edgardo Angara Jr. and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. — strongly recommended presidential intervention.
Ople said Mrs. Arroyo could instruct the government prosecutors from the Department of Justice not to block a pending petition of the defense panel to allow Mr. Estrada to travel to the United States for knee surgery.
While proposing this as one backroom agreement, Ople said the President could also direct the prosecution to allow due course to a petition by the defense lawyers for a raffle to determine the judges who would conduct the Estrada trial.
Ople said this would be better than arbitrarily naming a special court or division to try Estrada’s cases.
The senator added the prosecutors could also give way to a review of the trial schedules, which had been unreasonably fixed at three times a week to the detriment of the defense lawyers who have professional commitments to other clients.
Angara, for his part, bared they were negotiating with "key players" in Philippine society to muster support for the specific proposals which they hoped would defuse political tension stemming from Estrada’s trial. Angara did not name these "key players."
"We are hopeful that the proposals will be heard, supported and accepted. No institution of government will be prejudiced by the proposals," he said.
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. joined the three opposition leaders in the meeting and was designated as team leader with the task of discussing the proposals with the President.
On the other hand, Senate President Franklin Drilon and pro-administration Senators Joker Arroyo, Renato Cayetano and Ramon Magsaysay maintained that Malacañang should not intervene in the cases of Estrada to avoid undue political pressure on the members of the court. They also felt that back-channel negotiations would be tantamount to intervention in the judicial process.
"This is a matter that is already part of the judicial process... If we are to substitute political pressure with the judicial process, then we might as well forget our laws," Drilon stressed.
Cayetano explained that back-channel negotiations could be hazy and could undermine the independence of the judiciary.
The objectives and the parameters of the backroom deals should be laid out, he said, since it is improper to intrude into the affairs of the judiciary.
Magsaysay said it would be better for Malacañang not to be involved as the move by senators and members of the House to support the medical treatment of Estrada in the US had been stained by political developments.
"The issue has become politicized and many of us who have signed believe this has been overtaken by events and should not be made to show that we are for exile," Magsaysay noted.
He made the call as opposition senators announced that a deal between the Arroyo administration and Estrada for the latter’s exile was in the works.
De Venecia said civil society, the Church, business, and other groups must be consulted on how to resolve the crisis brought about by the ousted president’s refusal to be tried by the justice system.
Former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos should also be consulted, he said.
Angara, Ople, Pimentel and De Venecia came out of their meeting Thursday morning announcing they were resorting to "parliamentary diplomacy" to resolve the "gathering political crisis."
Alarmed leftist congressmen said this meant that an exile deal was being cooked up.
Rep. Satur Ocampo (party-list, Bayan Muna) said this was the only conclusion the organization he represents could make from the so-called "parliamentary diplomacy" initiative of Estrada’s allies in the Senate.
"Granting exile for an ousted and disgraced president charged with plunder and other grave criminal offenses does neither the country nor the Arroyo government any good. On the contrary, it makes a travesty of the country’s justice system," Ocampo, former spokesman for the communist-led National Democratic Front, said.
Another Bayan Muna lawmaker, militant labor leader Crispin Beltran, said a "compromise (leading to exile) is in the offing" between Estrada and President Arroyo. Exile would be the "softest and most convenient option for the Arroyo government, and one the opposition has been lobbying for," he said.
Lakas partymates of Mrs. Arroyo shared the sentiments of their leftist colleagues.
Rep. Oscar Moreno of Misamis Oriental said the government should insist on its no-exile policy for Estrada and on its desire to allow the justice system to work.
Another Lakas congressman, Rolando Andaya Jr. of Camarines Sur, said "we should keep Estrada here even if that means some little trouble every now and then for us."
The watchdog PlunderWatch expressed fears that the Arroyo administration, through De Venecia, was already seeking ways to ship Estrada out of the country even before the cases against him are resolved.
"Before we even consider allowing Estrada to leave the country, we should first make sure he gets the verdict he deserves," said PlunderWatch spokesman Fr. Joe Dizon. — With Jess Diaz, Romel Bagares, Sandy Araneta