Dispatches

The verdict on the plunder case of Philippine former president Joseph Estrada will come out tomorrow.

The trial of Joseph Estrada came to a close last July 15 when the prosecution and the defense wrapped up their arguments.The prosecution, which presented 626 pages of summaries of the case, argued that they have presented enough evidence to prove that Estrada is guilty of accepting bribes from jueteng, kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes and illegal commissions from the sale of the shares of a company and of by depositing huge amount of money in a bank account under an alias.

Meanwhile, the defense submitted 276 pages of summaries of the rebuttals said that the prosecution presented “uncorroborated testimonies” and that it failed to prove the charges against Estrada.

The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan is expected to come out with a decision to this long-running trial on or before September 15.

Click here to see summary of charge no. 1. Download it here.
Click here to see summary of charge no. 2. Download it here.
Click here to see summary of charge no. 3. Download it here.
Click here to see summary of charge no. 4. Download it here.

Four billion-plunder case

Estrada’s P 4.097 billion plunder case is composed of four charges: acceptance o P545 million protection money from illegal gambling jueteng , misappropriation of f P130 million tobacco excise tax, collection of P 189.7 million commission the sale of the shares of Belle Corp., and amassing and depositing P3, 233, 104, 173.17 in a bank account under the name of Jose Velarde.

He is also facing minor charges of perjury for allegedly underreporting his assets in 1999.

Estrada denied the charges and accused that his successor, Gloria Arroyo conspired with the high-ranking military officials and the Roman Catholic Church to oust him in January 2001.

Too Many Judges

The case was first tried in the Third Division of the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan. The division was then composed of Justices Anacleto Badoy, Ricardo Ilarde and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.

On January 2002, the Supreme Court ordered to create a Special Division that would hear all the cases against Estrada. The Special Division was composed of Minita Chico-Nazario as presiding judge and Justices Edilberto G. Sandoval and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.

Sandoval became the acting presiding judge when Nazario was appointed as justice of the Supreme Court on August 2004. Meanwhile, Justice Francisco Villaruz, Jr. became the newest member of the Special Division.

After De Castro was appointed as the presiding judge, Sandoval resigned from the Special Division. The Supreme Court then designated Justice Diosdado Peralta on Feb. 8, 2005 as the new member of the Special Division.

As a result of these changes, De Castro is the only justice who was able to hear the testimonies of the witnesses of the prosecution and the defense.

High-profile witnesses

The prosecution presented 76 witnesses and more than 1,500 evidences. Its key witness is Luis Singson, former Ilocos Sur governor and a senatorial candidate from Team Unity. Singson testified that Estrada received kickbacks from jueteng and diverted funds intended for tobacco farmers.

Prosecution witnesses also included former of the Social Security System (SSS) president Carlos Arellano former Government Services Insurance System (GSIS) president Federico Pascual and Willie Ng Ocier, former vice chair of Belle Corp., a company in the property development business and with investments in gaming-related companies.

Pascual’s and Arellano’s testimonies were used by the prosecution to prove that Estrada instructed the two officials to buy shares of the Belle Corporation.

Other witnesses of the prosecution included officials of Equitable-PCI Bank like Atty. Manuel Curato and Clarissa Ocampo, who testified that she was “one foot away” from Estrada when he signed the bank documents using the name “Jose Velarde.”

Rebuttals

Meanwhile, the defense presented 79 witnesses to rebut the testimonies of the prosecution, including the accused Estrada who denied all the allegations against him.

Estrada testified from March to June 2006. and even celebrated his 69th birthday on the witness stand on April 19. He said that the allegations of Singson were politically motivated because the latter failed to get the license to operate Bingo-2 balls in Ilocos Sur to his political rivals.

The defense also presented employees of Equitable-PCI Bank to prove that Jaime Dichaves owned the Jose Velarde account. Moreover, it also claimed that none of the prosecution witnesses presented were involved in the opening and closing of the Velarde account.

Co-accused

Co-accused in the plunder charges includes Estrada’s son and incumbent senator Jinggoy, lawyer Edward Serapio, Yolanda Ricaforte, Delia Rajas, Eleuterio Tan, Jaime Dichaves, Alma Alfaro and Charlie “Atong” Ang.
Serapio and Estrada were allowed by the Sandiganbayan to post P500, 000 bail each in 2003.

Meanwhile, Ang had pleaded guilty to corruption of public official and paid P25 million, an amount he allegedly pocketed from the 130 million tobacco excise taxes intended for the Ilocos Sur government, as part of a plea bargain agreement. Other co-accused are still at large.

Photo Credit: news.bbc.co.uk