Erap: Prosecution using Atong Ang as witness

Ousted President Joseph Estrada accused the government yesterday of "moving heaven and earth" to get him convicted for plunder and perjury before a special division of the Sandiganbayan.

"They are now moving heaven and earth because they know that the evidence against me is weak," he said in a phone interview with The STAR

Estrada said Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, the government’s star witness in the case against him, and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo have convinced his former gambling buddy Charlie "Atong" Ang to testify as a rebuttal witness for the prosecution.

However, Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio denied Estrada’s allegations that the government intends to use Ang as a rebuttal witness.

"Right now, we do not need his testimony," he said. "He is an accused in this case."

Ang, a former consultant for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and a co-accused in Estrada’s plunder case, is now battling an extradition case in the US state of Nevada.

Ang was arrested in a Las Vegas casino in November 2001, where he fled with his family after Estrada’s ouster earlier that year.

Villa-Ignacio said the government may present a rebuttal witnesses during this period.

But they may dispense with the rebuttal witnesses as the evidence against Estrada are sufficient to warrant a conviction, he added.

Villa-Ignacio said after making comments on the evidence presented by the defense, the plunder and perjury cases against Estrada will be submitted for resolution by the court.

"By December, these cases could be submitted for the court’s decision," he said.

The defense will make its formal offer of evidence on Oct. 2, with the prosecution panel to be given 30 days to make its comment.

Last Aug. 30, lawyers for Estrada rested their case and terminated their presentation of evidence before the anti-graft court’s special division.

Estrada’s lawyers started their presentation of evidence on Sept. 15, 2004.

They have also presented before the court a total of 80 witnesses, as compared to the prosecution’s 76.

Estrada’s lawyers have always maintained that their client was prematurely stripped of his immunity from suit as President, and that he is a victim of "selective prosecution."

On direct examination last March 22, Estrada denied Singson’s testimony that Ang delivered the P130-million "cut" from the tobacco excise tax for Ilocos Sur to his house on Polk Street, San Juan.

Estrada also denied being close to Ang as claimed by Singson.

Palace has final say

Estrada’s camp said yesterday President Arroyo would have to ultimately decide whether the film about the ousted leader’s life story should be banned since the decision of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) is appealable to the Office of the President.

In a letter to Mrs. Arroyo, former immigration commissioner Rufus Rodriguez, one of Estrada’s lawyers, said the film "Ang Mabuhay para sa Masa" is a "newsreel" based on four fundamental aspects.

"It is a motion picture film, it lasts less than an hour," read the letter.

"More importantly, it deals with current events before, during and after President Estrada’s incumbency as President of the Republic of the Philippines in relation to the current political issue of presidential leadership problems."

Estrada himself asked Mrs. Arroyo to lift the X-rating from his bio-pic.

"We don’t want to be accused of not exhausting all legal remedies available to us," Estrada told The STAR, adding that they were taking their chances with Malacañang to show that they were following legal processes.

Rodriguez, also representing Publikasia, the film’s producer, said the events presented in the film are historically verifiable, not figments of mere imagination, making it a depiction of actualities as specified in the Supreme Court’s definition of the term "newsreel."

In filing the appeal before the Office of the President, Rodriguez invoked the freedom of expression and insisted that the film is a "newsreel," and thus exempted from the MTRCB’s review power.

Rey David, Publikasia president, accompanied by Rodriguez filed an appeal before the MTRCB before proceeding to Malacañang. — Perseus Echeminada, Mike Frialde, Aurea Calica