MJ blames his ‘stupidity’ for friendship with Estrada

"It was because of my own stupidity."

This was how businessman Mark Jimenez expressed his mea culpa after he met with Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin yesterday at the prelate’s residence in Mandaluyong City.

"I allied myself with them (deposed President Joseph Estrada and his cronies) without knowing what was happening to the country. Perhaps, it was also because of my own stupidity," Jimenez said in an interview with radio station dzBB.

Jimenez, who has agreed to testify against Estrada, said he sought an audience with the Cardinal to seek "spiritual guidance" as he prepares to testify in the corruption and plunder cases that are to be filed against his disgraced friend.

He called his meeting with Sin as "the start of a new journey."

Jimenez also denied cooperating with the government to evade prosecution and extradition to the US where he is wanted for several federal felonies.

He also denied asking the government for anything in exchange for his testimony, adding he merely wanted "the truth to come out."

"Continue your journey. Let the truth prevail," Jimenez quoted Sin as telling him during their hour-long private audience at the archbishop’s Villa San Miguel residence.

"I am not afraid of anything because I have the truth on my side," he said.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez has said that on the strength of Jimenez’s testimony alone, state lawyers will be able to convict Estrada of graft and economic plunder.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has in fact announced that it would file three more cases of plunder against Estrada after taking depositions from Jimenez earlier this week.

Jimenez, publisher of The Manila Times, earlier clarified that he was already set to testify against Estrada during the impeachment trial in December but his testimony was overtaken by the civilian uprising that toppled Estrada.

Jimenez is reputed to have brokered controversial multibillion-peso transactions that allegedly involved Estrada and claims to have personal knowledge on how Estrada allegedly enriched himself through illegal transactions over the past two years.

US reminds RP of treaty commitments

Meanwhile, the US Embassy clarified that it wanted Jimenez extradited at the soonest possible time to make the extradition treaty "work" for both countries.

Jimenez had been doing business in the US but fled the country after he was indicted in Florida in 1999 for alleged tax evasion, mail fraud and illegal campaign contributions to former President Bill Clinton.

US chargé d’affaires Michael Malinowski clarified that while the US is not interested in interfering in local judicial processes, they see the effectiveness of the extradition treaty as a serious issue.

"We would like to have him extradited as soon as possible, how soon possible is the question," Malinowski said.

"Your government, the people who are focused on the Mark Jimenez case know exactly what our position is," he added, referring to its communications with the DOJ.

"We’re in close dialogue. So we hope that... one of the things in the Mark Jimenez case is that it’s part of our extradition treaty and that’s really what we want to see work," he said.

"It (the treaty) should be working for both countries and that is the issue," stressed Malinowski.

He explained the effectiveness of the treaty should be considered "beyond the particular case" of Jimenez although it has its own "seriousness as well."

Malinowski said the US understands that it cannot impose a deadline because it is for Philippine courts to decide.

"The courts have to take their own time," he said, adding that the US Embassy has several communications with the DOJ.

Earlier, the US Embassy had expressed concern that Jimenez may sneak out of the country and flee to a third country that has no extradition treaty with the US.

It has sought a clarification on the difference between the hold-departure list and watch-list of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), an attached agency of the DOJ, so it can be guided on its official move to ensure Jimenez’s extradition.

Jimenez was earlier placed on the BI’s watch list which prevents him from leaving the country for 90 days but that expired on Monday.

Under BI rules, a person in the watch list will be barred from leaving the country on his first attempt but may be allowed to leave the country after five days if the government does not place him in the hold-departure list.

The US Embassy thus asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to include Jimenez in the BI’s separate hold-departure list to ensure that he remains in the Philippines until his extradition to the US.

The DFA has also reassured the US that the Philippines will abide by its standing commitments on the extradition treaty it signed with the US and other countries as well.

‘Just like a telenovela’

With the US Embassy’s repeated reminders about the Philippines’ treaty commitments, Justice Secretary Perez said the government may agree to extradite Jimenez as soon as possible.

Perez told DOJ reporters that the government may agree to Jimenez’s immediate extradition if the US immediately deports Yolanda Ricaforte, the alleged "auditor" of the protection money Estrada supposedly received from gambling bosses.

"We can get a deposition first to perpetrate his (Jimenez) testimony," he said, although he prefers that Jimenez stays in the country while the plunder cases against Estrada are pending.

"He (Jimenez) knows he’s going to be a state witness here. We have to talk to the US State department and ask that he be allowed to stay longer here to be able to testify," Perez said.

Perez stressed that it would be better if Jimenez were here for the trial because Jimenez’s testimony is "just like a telenovela."

"It’s just like a telenovela," Perez said. "Each story can be made into one segment of an episode."

Perez dismissed suggestions that the DOJ should be wary of his testimony because Jimenez may be a "Trojan horse" sent to confuse and derail the government’s case against Estrada.

Perez said he is convinced that Jimenez is no Trojan horse and had admitted that he even benefited from irregularities committed by Estrada.

"In some case, he was a participant but we do need him to be able to present the evidence. I’m convinced he’s no Trojan horse except that in some instances he needs a lot of prodding before he reveals the complete story," Perez said.

He said that with each transaction that Jimenez will testify to, "at least one major government official" can be pinned down as Estrada’s co-conspirator. — With reports from Aurea Calica, Delon Porcalla, Rey Arquiza