A Dud of a Bomb, Or the first Salvo? - Gotcha By Jarius Bondoc

"Long in rhetoric but very woefully short on evidence," presidential spokesman Atty. Dong Puno said of Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson’s "dud" of a bombshell. Other Malacañang and ruling LAMP lawyers sneered likewise. But trial lawyers who sat in neutral silence to catch Singson’s every word on live national radio Monday didn’t think so. "You can’t expect the President to be signing receipts for Singson’s delivery of jueteng payoffs," one of them mimicked judge-turned-senator Miriam Santiago, but quickly added that "a first-hand account of crime is enough ground to file a case." Another chimed in: "It’s no different from a prostitute confessing to what she and a customer did, which only the two of them know; the probable cause to prosecute the customer comes from the credible, rational details of the prostitute’s story."

Singson did try to present himself as a victim whom Joseph Estrada prostituted into the crime of collecting half a billion pesos in jueteng protection money. So based on his account, lawyer-congressman Sonny Alvarez found probable cause to file a case for impeachment. Lawyer-congressman Boy Herrera moreover asked for immunity for Singson so he can delve into more details.

Other opposition leaders are more cautious. They realize they need more than just Singson’s sworn statement and tapes of a phone call to get tedious impeachment proceedings going. They’d heard Singson in several radio interviews talking about returned checks and other incriminating documents. Fiscal-turned-congressman Sergio Apostol says they’d rather see such evidence first before supporting Alvarez.

Yet Apostol understands the reason behind the seeming dud. "Surely, Singson’s lawyers advised him to limit his presscon to his first-hand account and tapes," he explained. "The presscon did not cloak him with a mantle of privileged communication, so he risked facing a libel suit. But it will be a totally different story when he testifies under oath in Congress. More so if he presents and attests to documentary evidence."

And so the action moves to the House of Representatives which, the Constitution states, has "the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment." There, it turns into a game of numbers, of legal tactics, and of political pressures.

Only one member of the House is needed to file a case, and Alvarez says he has gathered 20 signatures. So the LAMP majority theoretically will have no choice but to include it in the Order of Business within ten session days. The Speaker must then refer it within three days to the committee on justice, which in turn must hear it within 60 days. During such hearings, LAMP’s lawyer-congressmen expectedly will invoke all legal rules and practices to quash the case. Alvarez’s 20 signatories will fall under tremendous pressure to ease up on Estrada. LAMP’s overwhelming superiority in numbers will come into play, for a majority vote of the committee is needed to elevate the case for floor deliberations.

If the case does reach the floor, the Speaker must schedule the debates within ten days from receipt of the committee referral. More legal maneuvers, more pressures, more counting of noses. At least one-third of congressmen – 73 of 218 – must vote to affirm the Articles of Impeachment. Otherwise, it’s dead. Apostol scratches his head, for the LAKAS opposition numbers only 29 in all.

On the slim chance that the House votes to impeach the President, the case then goes to the Senate for trial. The Supreme Court Chief Justice automatically joins to preside, but not vote. It must take 15 of the 22 senators to convict the President.

The difficulty of the impeachment process is magnified all the more by the legal weakness of Singson’s evidence so far. But the jueteng expose is not just a legal or congressional matter. It is an issue in the bar of public opinion, where perception holds weight more than rules of court. In the public mind, Singson’s bombshell may not be a dud, but the first salvo in a long battle for credibility.

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INTERACTION. G.L. Mondejar, email.msn.com: I’m frustrated with the callousness of LAMP officials who play blind to wrongdoings of their boss. They all shamelessly say they’ll block impeachment moves in Congress (Gotcha, 9 Oct. 2000).

Renato V. de Leon, edsamail.com: Now Malacañang is cutting a deal with Singson through Lucio Tan and Baby Asistio, and stopped Bingo-2 Ball in Ilocos Sur. Was this all Singson wanted?

Grace Sison, merck.co: If true, the jueteng scandal is an effective issue to impeach Erap. Yehey!

Carlos Manalastas, edsamail.com: Tell me who Erap’s friends are, and I’ll tell you who he is (Gotcha, 7 Oct. 2000). What kind of persons are Singson and Ang – and Erap?

Jameson Mappala, mxs.mesh.ne.jp: It’s a friendship gone sour. When Erap wanted to stop protecting Singson, the latter plotted revenge to continue his illegal activities. Should we believe this self-confessed gambling lord?

Raul Delossantos, freeatlast.com: No, this is not just a fight between two presidential pals. Erap, Lacson, Calimlim are saying Singson is a bad man. So why haven’t they jailed him? They admit that Ang used to operate masiao in Visayas. Why are there no charges against him either?

Bing Ramos, Hayward, Ca.: Singson may be no angel, but his allegations bear hearing. Dong Puno is right to say that the jueteng expose is affecting the economy, but that doesn’t mean we should keep quiet about it.

Edwin Lacierda, compass.com: It’s hard to believe Erap’s line that Singson is a liar and part of the opposition’s disinformation-disenchantment-destabilization drive. Up to last week, he was part of Erap’s midnight Cabinet.

Steiner Samson, bigfoot.com: Government officials buy luxury cars at the expense of taxpayers who suffer from rising consumer prices, bad roads and lack of transportation.

Thank you for taking time out to write, Dr. Bobby Jimenez, Joey Catama, Gabby Benavidez, M.C. Diaz, Mon Sagullo, Rene Cruz, Sandy Nielsen, Mario Garong, Rodel Ocampo, Narciso Ner, Willie Vicedo.

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YOUR BODY. Early treatment with an available interferon drug dramatically slows the onset of multiple sclerosis and, in some cases, halts the disease. Cnn.com/health reports a study of 383 patients in 50 clinics where the drug significantly delayed MS in half of the cases. In some patients, the drug prevented further MS-type episodes from occurring. But researchers don’t know how long the effects will last.

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