Now it’s ‘Hello Erap’

A transcript of alleged conversations between former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada and an unidentified government official on a supposed deal to split the opposition in the 2004 elections and thereby increase the chances of President Arroyo has started to circulate on the Internet.

Sen. Francis Escudero said he received a copy of the supposed transcript by e-mail and dared those responsible to produce the original tapes of the conversations so they could be evaluated and authenticated.

Escudero and another opposition senator, Loren Legarda, said the issue was probably meant to sow further disunity within the opposition since the issue involved Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

The supposed conversation has the official asking Estrada to ensure that Lacson and the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. would not unify for a strong opposition slate in the 2004 elections.

Estrada allegedly agreed to work for the split of Poe and Lacson in exchange for a promise that his son Jinggoy would be taken care of.

Legarda, the running mate of Poe, said she could not believe the story.

She confirmed the current split in the opposition because of the election of Senate President Manuel Villar Jr., who opted to get the support of administration senators to keep his position.

Legarda said Estrada talked to her and asked if it was possible for her to join Jinggoy in supporting Villar.

Escudero, who served as spokesman for Poe in the 2004 elections, along with opposition Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and Jinggoy, now the Senate president pro tempore, backed Villar.

Escudero noted Estrada was the one who worked for the unity of Poe and Lacson.

Another opposition leader, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, witnessed their conversation.

“I know that at that time, no one can dictate on Poe as to what he should do. I also don’t think it is right to bring up a political issue involving someone who had passed away already,” Escudero said.

Escudero said it appears that the issue is being used to divide and destroy the opposition.

Jinggoy said his father could not do such a thing, while Lacson was surprised with the news about such an e-mail.

However, Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan and former senator Vicente Sotto III, who were also involved in the campaign of Poe, said such incident was possible.

“Early on, we felt something different was unraveling during the campaign. We could not explain it, we were given the responsibility but not the authority and not the support for the campaign. In the end, Tito and Tessie (former senator Teresa Aquino-Oreta) were hit with intrigues and sometimes, I also became a victim,” Honasan said.

“Now if we try to connect the stories, it would appear that the intrigues were originating from somewhere. I do not want to speculate, I don’t have personal knowledge, I was just saying what happened. It’s like, oh yes, right, why not?” Honasan added.

Sotto said he received an e-mail about the same thing and “I tend to believe that the conversation took place.”

The unnamed official is believed to be former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor, who was involved in the campaign of Mrs. Arroyo in the 2004 elections.

“I don’t know what they are talking about. But one thing I can say, pretty much like what Senator Honasan said, after Holy Week, it was close to the birthday of Erap, they removed me as campaign manager of FPJ. I was the one closest to FPJ, so he refused,” Sotto said.

Sotto said some of those in the opposition wanted them out of the picture and substituted by people like Escudero.

“It was baffling as to why certain things happened, we were removed from our places,” Sotto said.

“That issue needs a second look. The followers of FPJ should look at the issue,” he added.