Not a single justice got out of line, possibly apprehensive that posterity would single him out as a national cad and republican knave, worse a tricolor traitor with the cloven feet of Mephisto. There was a 9-4 vote on immunity – at best an academic exercise – but it was useful nonetheless. The vote identified the pro-Estrada justices "with reservations", three of them appointed by the fallen and disgraced president no less. They were Bernardo Pardo, Santiago Kapunan, Angelina Gutierrez, Consuelo Ynarez-Santiago.
Well, Erap Estrada is now up against the wall, unwept, unhonored and unsung where the High Court and People Power II are concerned.
What are the immediate and mid-term repercussions? There is no doubt Estrada’s senatorial and other candidates will suffer and suffer tremendously. The illusion is gone that the name Joseph Ejercito Estrada still means something or anything in the world of politics, particularly the current electoral campaign. You know it’s like the explosion of a dirigible. People Power II was like a heat-seeking missile. And when through it, the Supreme Court walloped Estrada 13-0, it was Sonny Liston flat out in the ring of the Maginot Line collapsing like a busted accordion in the First World War.
The People Power Coalition senatorial line-up can now win at the very least 10-3 or 11-2, the two being possibly Noli de Castro and Dra. Loi Ejercito. The mustachioed leader is gone. The ignition is gone. The popular support is going, going. Dra. Loi will be a co-accused and she will also be arrested. Erap flat on his back is not a very nice thing to see. Like a beached whale or a recumbent rogue elephant or a once gilded elevator transformed into scrap heap.
Another repercussion is, of course, the looming Trial of the Century. Estrada and his criminal cohorts will certainly be indicted and arraigned at the Sandiganbayan for a spate of charges, principal of which is presidential plunder. I had another luncheon rendezvous with Ombudsman Aniano Desierto arranged by my good friend Mister X – and he was brimming with optimism. There were approximately three to six plunder cases in his brief case, enough to blow the former president to kingdom come. One plunder charge alone, the P3.2 billion stashed in Equitable-PCI Bank, could twirl Estrada like a counterfeit coin all the way to the Eternal Cooler.
Estrada’s lawyers, so says Desierto, not having much in law considering the preponderance of the evidence against him, will resort to delaying tactics, legal gobbledygook, of course, to technicalities, all the legal repertoire of plugs and pipe-darts and potholes to postpone and keep postponing the trial. But once the Sandiganbayan is convinced the evidence is formidable, it will order Estrada’s arrest and immediate imprisonment. Estrada can fight from behind prison bars, importune the heavens, but once he is inside in prison uniform – he is impotent. A raging but helpless bear.
The only thing to beware of now is Estrada leaving Philippine territory subrosa from a southern airport where a chartered plane could be waiting to fly him and his immediate family to a nearby foreign enclave and from there to Australia thence to Canada. Or wherever. With the Supreme Court’s 13-0 decision, I can tell you the former president is plumb scared. Arrest, indictment, imprisonment were never in his script. Things would work out, his masa would come to the fore, his billions would secure his way to safety. He was the Harry Houdini of Philippine politics. Nobody could ever catch him. No, he would never be arrested or jailed. Yeah?
Now watch out. He could escape. Ping Lacson’s polizei are still very much around, and they can still work their black magic on the many airports studding the country. Many "Great Escapes" have happened. And they occurred even from German Stalags (the jails of Allied prisoners) during the Second World War. Despite barbed wire entanglements eight to the bar, and towers and outposts bristling with sharp-eyed Wehrmacht snipers manning machinegun nests, there were spectacular escapes.
But if everything proceeds well, the presidential impeachment process in the Senate will pale in dramatic impact beside the forthcoming Sandiganbayan trial. I understand Sandiganbayan presiding justice Francis Garchitorena is inclined to have the proceedings televised. The hearings will be held daily on a marathon run, four hours a day, with Erap and his co-accused on the dock. That will be a sight. Ombudsman Aniano Desierto himself will prosecute, a "gagged" legal lion waiting to be unleashed on the most prominent accused in contemporary Philippine history. Remember a plunder charge – if proved in court – means death.
Again, the whole nation will be glued to television.
I am heartened by the contributions and donations so far (address them to Teodoro Benigno (Fund Campaign for Justice) c/o Millet Dioso, The Philippine STAR corner 13th and Railroad streets, Port Area, Manila). But the big hitters, the big names, the big firms, the big conglomerates are not responding at all. C’mon, messieurs, you who waged verbal war on Joseph Estrada from your air-conditioned eyries in Makati and elsewhere, you who stridently sought his ouster, you in the Makati Business Club, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Managers Association of the Philippines, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the Philippine Chamber of Industries – where are your donations? You wanted the presidential head of Estrada. EDSA II – the Filipino people – beheaded him. Now where is your gratitude?
Okay, I understand, you can’t give openly. All right, give anonymously, but hell’s bells, give generously. Give now.
First up in today’s list (Fund Campaign for Justice) is Victorio C. Valledor, president and CEO (Alexander Forbes Philippines Risk Services, Inc.) with a P20,000 cheque. Wrote he: "I am but a small businessman but like you I am appalled and repulsed by the brazenness by which Erap acquired his billions and his pathetic attempts to sound innocent. I reserve my worst contempt for people like Rene Saguisag who should know better." Next are Fred and Rose Gregorio (9 Ecoville Townhouse, Metropolitan Avenue, Makati City) with a P5000 cheque. They write the "process of securing justice should be pursued relentlessly." The couple propose another fund campaign to help reduce our budget deficit.
From Arcy Co we have a P1000 cheque without a note or a message. Here’s an interesting one, P1000 in cash from Vicente E. Pacheco, 71, (1223-C 14th Avenue, Cubao, QC). He pleaded by phone he was down with the pains of old age and couldn’t we kindly pick up his contribution at his residence? We did. Atty. Honorato Gutierrez sends a P1000 cheque, no note, no address. Thanks. Last cheque for this batch is P500 from Solomon (‘Mon") F. de la Pena with the note "Good luck and God bless."
Again we emphasize that with the Supreme Court 13-0 ruling on the legitimacy of the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, we have to speed up this Fund Campaign for Justice. Soon, the private prosecutors will be at their posts, things and events will hum, and as they stride alongside Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, we’ll have the trial all of you, all of us have been waiting for.
I repeat, you big hitters, please ready your anonymous cheques. You were in this from the very beginning. Boom-boom. Now the citizenry needs your help.