House prosecutors vow speedy impeachment trial

House Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City) said yesterday the House prosecutors want a speedy impeachment trial of President Estrada.

He denied rumors that they are bent on slowing down the trial to await changes in the Senate with the upcoming 2001 elections, where the opposition is expected to win. A two-thirds vote in the Senate is needed to convict Mr. Estrada.

Meanwhile, impeachment prosecutors are planning to present presidential accuser Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson of Ilocos Sur and presidential friend Charlie "Atong" Ang as witnesses in the bribery and corruption charges against the President.

"We intend to call Governor Singson and Mr. Ang as witnesses to support these charges against the President," Lakas Rep. Oscar Moreno of Misamis Oriental, one of the 11 prosecutors, told reporters yesterday.

Another prosecutor, Quezon Rep. Wigberto Tañada, said the trial may extend to February.

"It is hoped that it will end by December. But it could go on until February," Tañada told Bombo Radyo, adding he had suggested a one to two-month deadline for the Senate to reach a decision whether to acquit Mr. Estrada, his former seatmate in that chamber.

Belmonte, manager of the prosecution panel, said they have no plan to delay trial proceedings. "Anyway, the conduct of the trial will be up to Chief Justice Hilario Davide," he said.

Davide is the non-voting presiding officer of the impeachment trial.

Prosecution members Moreno, Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez and Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, who is also deputy minority leader, affirmed they all want to facilitate the impeachment process.

They however stressed they might not agree to proposals to limit the number of witnesses to be summoned.

Rodriguez added it is not mandatory for the prosecution to submit the names of their witnesses to Davide.

"They might want to tie us down," remarked Moreno.

Apostol said the Ilocos Sur governor, Mr. Estrada’s estranged gambling and drinking buddy, will be the star witness in both the bribery and corruption charges.

"The impression we get is that Governor Singson still has many stories to tell," Apostol said.

Moreno also said the President should testify in the trial and face questioning by prosecutors, although defense lawyers would try to shield him from testifying.

"If he really has nothing to hide, he should appear before us and the nation. He should not let his lawyers invoke technicalities. The issue here is one of trust. Does he still have the trust and confidence of the people? Can he still continue to govern?" he said.

Apostol is the lead prosecutor in the bribery case, while the corruption charge will be handled by Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo, with Moreno as his assistant.

The case of bribery arose from the President’s alleged receipt from Singson of hundreds of millions of pesos in jueteng money.

The charge of corruption is also based on the governor’s claim that Mr. Estrada demanded a P130-million share from the P200 million share of Ilocos Sur of tobacco tax collections.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s inquiry into the jueteng scandal, Singson said he and Ang delivered the P130 million to the President in his Polk, Greenhills, San Juan residence.

He said the money was first transferred to the Land Bank branch in Mandaluyong City in the name of three persons designated by Ang before it was delivered to Mr. Estrada.

Land Bank officials have confirmed the transfer and the withdrawal of the money by three depositors in their early 20s.

But Ang claimed he did not know the persons who withdrew the money, saying they could be working for Singson.

But Isabela Rep. Heherson Alvarez, a complainant in the impeachment petition against the President, accused Ang of lying on the basis of Social Security System (SSS) documents.

He said SSS premium payment reports furnished him by concerned SSS employees showed that Delia Rajas, one of the three tobacco money recipients, worked for Ang’s Power Management Consultancy as a clerk with a monthly pay of P20,000.

Moreno said the prosecution panel is now trying to locate Rajas and the two other alleged recipients.

"We have made some representations in the provinces so they could be traced. We intend to call them as additional witnesses," he said.

"However, even without them, I believe we can prove that the President received the tobacco tax money as Gov. Singson claimed," he added.

The prosecutors admitted that they avoid even having coffee "with the other side," referring to the defense panel, for fear that important evidence might be leaked. "Many of us have friends on the other side," Belmonte said.

Around 100 volunteer lawyers from various groups like the Public Interest law center and the Free legal Assistance Group will assist the four prosecution teams, which had a meeting at the Ateneo over the weekend.

"The first big task for us," according to one prosecutor, "is to coordinate the different panels and volunteer lawyers into one cohesive group."– Efren Danao, Jess Diaz, Romel Bagares, Teddy Molina