Jinggoy, TG in war of words

MANILA, Philippines - A day after being accused by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada of “prejudging” him in the pork barrel scam, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III took the floor yesterday in an attempt at clarification, only to end up engaging his accuser in a word war.

Guingona, chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee, said that his statement about the testimony of potential state witness Ruby Tuason being a “three-point shot, buzzer beater and winning shot” was not a reference to the innocence or guilt of Estrada but his way of emphasizing the value of the testimony.

“The phrase was used by me to describe and underscore the possible impact and value of the testimony of a witness,” Guingona said in a privilege speech.

Last Monday, Estrada denounced what he said was Guingona’s prejudging him on the pork barrel scam.

Estrada, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. are facing plunder and malversation charges before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The complaint stemmed from their allegedly having misused their pork allocation – officially called Priority Development Assistance Fund – in connivance with businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, a co-respondent in the case.

Estrada, who has denied the claims of Tuason, said that he was hurt by the statements made by Guingona during the Blue Ribbon hearing last Thursday.

Guingona made no attempt to apologize for what he said and insisted that he was not referring to Estrada in any way.

He said that it was not his intention to hurt Estrada or any one else for that matter.

Tempers flared as Estrada pressed on and would not let the matter go, apparently not satisfied with the response of Guingona.

“If your statement was not intentional and not to prejudge me, then what is your intention?” Estrada asked Guingona.

Estrada said that Guingona made no attempt to challenge the credibility of Tuason in spite of Estrada’s statement that she was lying in her affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation.

“I deny the allegations written in the affidavit of Mrs. Tuason. You and I know that the affidavit of Mrs. Tuason was practically empty, all generalizations, no details involved,” Estrada said.

“Did you take the testimony or the affidavit or statement of Mrs. Tuason as gospel truth?” he asked Guingona.

Guingona countered that he thought the testimony of Tuason was “very, very weighty” because it was the first time that a witness had admitted personally handing money over to a senator.

“That may be your opinion but I do not agree with that opinion. Let’s leave it like that. For me it (Tuason’s testimony) carried a lot of weight,” Guingona said.

But Estrada insisted the issue was whether Tuason was lying or not, and why Guingona did not even bother to establish this.

“I am really surprised why she only mentioned me and attorney Gigi Reyes in her affidavit when she has a lot of senator-friends who she also visited and sought for projects with the PDAF,” Estrada said, referring to Enrile’s former chief of staff Jessica Lucila Reyes.

“Why didn’t you even bother to ask her? Who else was she visiting in the Senate apart from the office of Senator Enrile and my office? I received information and I can support that, that she has been asking our colleagues here, former colleagues and incumbent colleagues here, for projects and she was peddling it,” Estrada added.

Guingona said that Tuason had been asked that question and she had denied knowing or dealing with other senators.

“The issue here is if she is lying or not,” Estrada repeated.

“What do you want to happen, what is your pleasure, Mr. President?” Guingona asked, addressing Senate President Franklin Drilon.

“What is happening here is that you have already prejudged us, especially me, most especially me,” Estrada said.

“No, no, no, no,” Guingona replied.

Drilon intervened by suspending the session.

After a break of an hour and a half, the session resumed with Estrada revealing that he had a long talk with Guingona, where he got to express his sentiments.

“I think he is aware of all the sentiments that I mentioned to him and all I advised him and all I requested is to have a fair committee hearing in the Blue Ribbon and I also advised him not to prejudge the outcome of the hearing and to refrain from making statements that tend to influence the outcome of the hearing. I think on the part of Sen. Guingona, these have already been well taken,” Estrada said. “Well taken, Mr. President,” Guingona said.

Enrile dared

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, for his part, dared Enrile to file charges against Reyes and another employee implicated in the pork barrel scam.

Cayetano said that since Enrile has been denying any role in the pork barrel scam or any link to Napoles, he should have at least done something about his employees’ being dragged into the controversy.

Cayetano was also referring to Reyes’ deputy, identified as Jose Evangelista.

“Why hasn’t Senator Enrile filed charges against his employees? If I found out that there were shenanigans taking place in my office, I have two choices: I fire them and file a case or I will coddle them and protect them,” Cayetano said.

Reyes resigned from her post last year and is reportedly hiding abroad.

Evangelista is still part of Enrile’s Senate staff, Cayetano said.

He said he was wondering why the minority leader was silent about the release of information proving he had authorized Reyes to sign documents on the use of his PDAF.