Estrada to testify in plunder trial

Former President Joseph Estrada will be called to testify at his corruption trial, his lawyers told the Sandiganbayan yesterday.

"We will present the (former) president himself," Jose Flaminiano told the anti-graft court’s three-member special division, refuting claims by Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio that they have run out of "significant and relevant witnesses."

Flaminiano did not specify when the deposed leader will take the witness stand. "We will present him soon. He will rebut everything," he told The STAR without providing details.

Villa Ignacio has been taunting defense lawyers for the past months, claiming "all they have presented are notaries public, authors of books, defense lawyers, this representation, journalists and the like" whose testimonies have nothing to do with the corruption charges.

Flaminiano argued the prosecutor has no right to brand their witnesses as irrelevant, as it was the anti-graft court that allowed their testimonies to be heard, and that he has no right to tell the defense what to do, reiterating they have several witnesses to be called.

"We intend to subpoena the governor of Batangas. We also intend to push for the testimony of (suspected jueteng operator) Bong Pineda. We also intend to call attorney Manuel Lazaro. We still have several witnesses, your honors," he told the court’s three magistrates, Justices Teresita de Castro, Francisco Villaruz and Diosdado Peralta.

Batangas Gov. Armand Sanchez and Pineda are expected to testify on jueteng operations. Both have professed innocence on their alleged involvement in illegal gambling, which forms part of Estrada’s indictment.

In yesterday’s hearing, proceedings were devoted largely to markings of purported "prejudiced" pleadings against Estrada, to whom according to Flaminiano the prosecutors have been hostile from the beginning of the trial.

"This is selective prosecution, your honors. From the very beginning the Ombudsman has shown hostility and extreme bias to our client. Our defense is that he was deprived of due process," he charged.

Flaminiano reminded prosecutors that their duty is "not to convict but to see that justice is done," that each criminal case is handled properly and without ignoring the rights of the accused, especially in a case like Estrada’s, in which one of the charges carries the maximum penalty of death.

Flaminiano also told the court that they intend to call this writer to the witness stand, along with Philippine Daily Inquirer reporters Nelson Flores and Armand Nocum tomorrow to testify regarding statements made by Villa Ignacio and Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo on the case.