Estrada taps Narvasa for impeach case

President Estrada has asked former Chief Justice Andres Narvasa to be his lead counsel in his defense against charges he accepted millions in payoffs from illegal gambling syndicates.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza had begged off as lead counsel due to a heart condition. Mendoza underwent a heart bypass operation two years ago.

"He might not be able to cope with the day-to-day requirement," Zamora said. "So President Estrada talked with former Chief Justice Andres Narvasa if he can be his lead lawyer for this particular issue."

Narvasa was Mr. Estrada’s lawyer in the 1970s, when the President was still mayor of San Juan town. Narvasa had won Mr. Estrada’s electoral cases at that time.

Narvasa was appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice by former President Corazon Aquino, who had recently called on the people "to prayer and to action" because of the jueteng scandal.

The Chief Justice retired in November 1998 and was appointed shortly as chairman of the Philippine National Bank.

In early 1999, when moves to amend the Constitution snowballed, the President appointed Narvasa to head the Presidential Commission on Constitutional Reforms

The STAR tried to get a statement from Narvasa, but his wife Janina said she was told by her husband that it would be better for the media "to ask Malacañang" instead.

She also said that her husband does not usually grant interviews to reporters.

Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said Narvasa and Mendoza will be in the President’s legal team, which has already started reviewing the impeachment case filed at the House of Representatives.

Last week, opposition groups filed the impeachment complaint, accusing Mr. Estrada of bribery, graft and constitutional violations. The administration-controlled Congress is widely expected to reject the charges.

On Monday, Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. ordered the House committee on justice to begin considering the impeachment complaint.

Under the Constitution, the committee has 60 days to decide whether to submit a resolution on impeachment to the full House of Representatives. The resolution must be backed by a majority of the committee’s 51 members – who include just 10 opposition members.

Villar then asked his colleagues to keep an open mind on the impeachment complaint.

He said the hearings should "get to the bottom of all allegations (against the President) so that the truth may come out."

"And to let the truth emerge, we must cast aside any prejudice," he said.

He said the proceedings must be expedited as prolonging them "will not do the country any good."

"The sooner this is resolved, the better for the Filipino people," he said.

House body in a quandary

However, the justice committee failed last night to decide how it would proceed with the impeachment proceedings.

Rep. Pacifico Fajardo (LAMP, Nueva Ecija), committee chairman, called his members to a closed-door meeting to discuss the rules on the conduct of the hearings.

About 30 minutes later, he told reporters he was forced to abruptly adjourn the meeting after some LAMP lawmakers questioned his authority to convene the committee while the House was having plenary debates on the budget.

He said his ruling party colleagues reminded him that under the rules of the chamber, no committee can meet or conduct any hearing when the House is taking up the budget.

He added that he had to adjourn the meeting since he would also have to attend to his duties as vice chairman of the appropriations committee.

Opposition congressmen said what took place in the justice committee was reminiscent of the gagging by LAMP lawmakers of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson in the committee on public order and security.

This indicates that the ruling party is bent on railroading the impeachment complaint against Mr. Estrada, they said.

Still, Fajardo assured the public that the impeachment hearings will be fair and transparent.

For his part, Rep. Wigberto Tañada (LP, Quezon), who sits in the committee, asked his colleagues to give President Estrada the benefit of the doubt.

Tañada, a lawyer and Mr. Estrada’s seatmate when they were senators, said the Chief Executive should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

"Should the President be found guilty, then let the full weight of the very law he has sworn to uphold and obey fall hard and fast upon him," he said.

He said the impeachment process should "go unimpeded so that our nation may get to the bottom of this crisis."

"It is not only the President who is now on trial. At stake too is the fundamental law of the land and the institutions of our fragile democracy," he added.

Several of Tañada’s partymates, including party president Rep. Florencio Abad of Batanes and secretary general Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III of Tarlac, have made a public commitment to sign the impeachment complaint against Mr. Estrada.

Abad and his colleagues are circulating among House members for their signature a separate resolution endorsing the complaint.

In other developments yesterday, congressmen rejected the proposal of Sen. John Henry Osmeña for the calling of a referendum on whether President Estrada should remain in office in the face of mounting calls for his resignation.

Rep. Ralph Recto (LAMP, Batangas) said the proposal could only subject the country to a "protracted political warfare."

He said the results of the impeachment proceedings should bind administration critics, including those calling for his resignation.

"If the President is exonerated, then the public should respect it. If he gets an unfavorable verdict, then he should abide by it," he said.

Assistant Minority Leader Michael Defensor (LP, Quezon City) likened Osmeña’s proposal to Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s snap election idea, calling them Malacañang trial balloons.

"It falls under the same scheme to settle Erap’s brushes with the law through a popularity contest," he said.

He said like the snap election proposal, Osmeña’s referendum has no constitutional basis.

"The President can either resign or be impeached," he added.

He pointed out that Osmeña’s "trial balloon" is reminiscent of the Marcos-regime barangay referenda which the late president always called whenever he faced a serious political crisis. – Marichu Villanueva, Delon Porcalla, Jess Diaz, AP