Estrada: $1-M donation from Taiwan never reached me

Ousted President Joseph Estrada said yesterday he did not receive a $1-million campaign contribution from former Taiwan president Lee Teng Hui.

Speaking at his detention suite at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, Estrada said he suspects "unscrupulous people" might have used his name in convincing Lee to shell out $1 million.

"But if that $1 million donation was true, it did not reach me," he said. "It never reached me. If indeed there has been such donation, somebody might have used my name and is now dragging me in this case."

Estrada told The STAR he does not personally know Lee, whom he believes is a close friend of his predecessor, former President Fidel Ramos.

"I don’t even know Lee," he said.

Estrada said the only time he met Lee was when he was vice president, when Ramos "secretly" invited the then Taiwan leader to Subic Free Port.

"Isn’t it that the late father of FVR (Ramos) was a former ambassador to Taiwan?" he said.

Estrada said he had rejected many campaign contributions that had been sent when he was already president-elect in June 1998, including those from now Manila Rep. Mario Crespo, alias Mark Jimenez, and the Makati Business Club.

Under its one-China policy, the Philippines cannot have any "government-to-government" dealing with Taiwan, which China considers as a renegade province.

Lee’s alleged $1-million donation to Estrada’s 1998 presidential campaign hugged the headlines in Taipei in connection with the investigation on the kickback allegations against financier Liu Tai Ying.

Liu, now chairman of the China Development Finance Holding Corp., had once controlled the huge business empire of the former ruling Kuomintang Party in Taiwan.

Liu told investigators he gave $1 million to Estrada’s presidential campaign on orders of Lee.

Estrada is being tried for corruption and economic plunder, charges that carry the death penalty or life in prison. He is accused of amassing more than P4 billion ($75 million) during his 31-month rule.

Estrada was ousted in January 2001 by a military-backed massive protest when his impeachment trial ended in a farce. He was replaced by then Vice President Gloria Arroyo and was arrested a few months later.

He has insisted he is innocent and the trial was rigged. He maintains he has not resigned and claims he was illegally forced out of office. Estrada has withdrawn his lawyers but the court has given him government-appointed counsel against his wishes. – Marichu Villanueva