Erap lawyers slam ‘selective prosecution’

The defense lawyers in the plunder and perjury charges against ousted President Joseph Estrada backtracked on their promise to rest their case yesterday before the Sandiganbayan, saying there was a need to revive the issue of "selective prosecution" to which their client was reportedly subjected.

The lawyers, led by former senator Rene Saguisag, said that while President Arroyo had been allowed by former Ombudsman Aniano Desierto to review and correct her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) in 1995 when she was still senator, Estrada had been deprived of such privilege and had even been charged with perjury before the Sandiganbayan.

"Mrs. Arroyo who has faced the same charge of not filing her SALN properly was given the chance to correct. Her case is an example of unequal treatment because she was allowed to review and correct (her SALN)," Saguisag said.

But Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio insisted that the issue of selective prosecution had no bearing on Estrada’s plunder case.

"Selective prosecution cannot be used as a ground to acquit the former president," he said.

Saguisag said yesterday’s Sandiganbayan order for the Office of the Ombudsman to provide the defense lawyers with certified copies of the SALNs filed by Mrs. Arroyo from 1998 to 2005 would bolster their arguments, particularly those concerning "selective prosecution."

Sandiganbayan Special Division chair Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro rejected the prosecution’s move to quash the subpoenas issued by the anti-graft court for the release of the documents.

Earlier, Saguisag said the defense panel was ready to rest its case and that it was just wrapping up documentary evidence.