Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, former drinking buddy and political ally of the President, presented to the impeachment court a check for P5 million which he claimed to have given to Mr. Estrada in February 1999 from jueteng collections.
The check was the only new revelation from Singson, who had previously told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee only of alleged cash payments to the President every 15 days from jueteng collections in Luzon.
Singson said the check, payable to cash, was given to "A.S." He said the initials stand for Asiong Salonga, code name of the President.
Prosecutors said they would trace the identity of the person who deposited the check issued by Singson.
The entry on "A.S." was contained in a ledger prepared by Singson listing collections and disbursements from jueteng operations from November 1999 to August this year.
Singson said the President’s liaison to the legislature, Secretary Jose Jaime Policarpio, received P2 million a month through alleged gambling lord Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda.
The governor also reiterated that the Pre-sident once asked him to give Senators John Osmeña and Tessie Aquino-Oreta P1 million each as balato or tip from the Chief Executive’s mah-jongg winnings aboard the presidential yacht Ang Pangulo that was then docked in Cebu City.
Singson was allowed to testify after a lengthy debate on the legality of the use of his private counsel, Simeon Marcelo, to conduct the direct examination.
Singson claimed that apart from the jueteng payoffs and kickbacks in tobacco excise tax meant for tobacco farmers in Ilocos Sur, Mr. Estrada also demanded P4 million out of funds released for a construction job in their capitol building.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide, acting as presiding officer of the impeachment tribunal, allowed Marcelo to be an active member of the prosecution panel without prejudice to future objections.
Before taking the stand, Singson vowed to drop a new bombshell against Mr. Estrada.
Singson’s accusations that Mr. Estrada pocketed more than P400 million in payoffs from illegal gambling operators triggered the impeachment complaint by the opposition bloc in the House of Representatives. Several legislators also bolted the ruling Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) coalition in the aftermath of the governor’s exposé.
He also charged that the President skimmed P130 million from a tobacco excise tax remittance to his province.
Singson parted ways with Mr. Estrada over the grant of the Bingo 2-Ball operations in Ilocos Sur to his political rival.
Bingo 2-Ball was designed by presidential friend and suspected gambling lord Charlie "Atong" Ang as a legalized form of gambling to supplant jueteng.
Ma. Carmencita Itchon, an employee of Singson, took the stand ahead of him to testify that Yolanda Ricaforte was a private accountant of Mr. Estrada assigned at Singson’s office to monitor the jueteng collections. "She (Ricarforte) reported directly to the President. I knew from the start that she was one of the President’s people," Itchon said.
She also claimed that Mr. Estrada and his cronies built a P65-million casino funded by the jueteng bribes.
She identified the President’s partners in the casino business as Jaime Dichaves and Ricaforte.
Itchon’s testimony was postponed, however, to give way to the pre-trial marking of several documents to be presented as prosecution evidence.
The fifth witness to be presented by the prosecution, Singson was directed to take the stand pending the resumption of Itchon’s testimony.
In a radio interview, Singson also confirmed reports that prosecution witnesses, including his secretary Emma Lim, have received death threats.
"It is true Emma Lim has been receiving death threats," Singson said. "We’ve been asking the Senate for protection, but to date, we haven’t been given any. That’s how hard it is to fight the government," he said.
Lim claimed last Monday she delivered P5 million to Malacañang in March last year, saying a Palace secretary she identified only as Malou received the bag containing the money from her.
On Tuesday’s hearing, the tribunal compelled the Equitable-PCIBank to surrender records on the bank account suspected held by Mr. Estrada using the name "Jose Valhalla" or "Jose Velarde," who issued a P142-million check as purported payment for a mansion.
Prosecutor Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo has said the check was made out to a presidential friend who used the funds to buy the mansion for former movie actress Laarni Enriquez, a mistress of Mr. Estrada.
Arroyo alleged that the signature on the check had a striking similarity to the President’s signature on the Philippine currency.
"We assure you, Mr. Chief Justice, the President will be convicted on bank records," Arroyo told the tribunal.
Meanwhile, Sen. Raul Roco noted the absence of validating bar codes on two documents submitted by the defense panel to the impeachment tribunal, indicating they could be dubious documents.
Prosecution witness former Philippine National Police chief Roberto Lastimoso testified earlier that bar codes indicated the genuineness of documents.
Roco pointed out that the two documents submitted by defense counsel Siegfred Fortun purporting to be directives issued by Lastimoso enjoining the PNP to conduct a vigorous campaign against jueteng, marked Exhibits 2 and 7, did not have bar codes.
The documents were apparently meant to weaken Lastimoso’s testimony that Mr. Estrada had ordered him to coordinate with Singson in the collection of the jueteng bribes.
However, Lastimoso has acknowledged that the signatures on the questioned documents were his.
The President was impeached by the House last month on charges of bribery, graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
Mr. Estrada has pleaded not guilty of the charges, saying he has not received a single centavo from illegal gambling.
"This harassment and intimidation will not do anyone any good. It is a clear sign of desperation on the part of some people who want an acquittal for the President. There must be no room for hooliganism in this trial," Villar said.
He asserted that the scare tactics were not helping the President’s case "since whoever is employing them is afraid of the truth."
"These tactics threaten to taint the impeachment process and undermines our country’s democracy. If this is going on with the knowledge and consent of administration officials, people have reason to be alarmed," Villar added.
He also said it is Mr. Estrada who will be the loser if unidentified men continue to harass and threaten the witnesses.
Former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. has reportedly left the country along with his family for security reasons.
Yasay vowed, however, to return to Manila next month to take the stand, now that his family was safe.
"I am just taking the necessary precautions. I want to make sure that nothing untoward will befall me before I take the witness stand," Yasay said.
He said he started receiving anonymous threats after he publicly accused the President of shielding a crony being investigated by the regulatory body.
It was under Villar’s leadership that the House impeached Mr. Estrada last Nov. 13.
Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, a key member of the House prosecution panel, also assailed agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for allegedly threatening a number of prosecution witnesses, forcing them to back out from testifying before the impeachment tribunal.
Apostol said three witnesses were being eyed to testify on the mansions allegedly being built for the President’s mistresses.
"After the NBI agents went to the houses of these witnesses, they refused to testify when we went back to talk to them," Apostol said. "Apparently, the NBI agents could have threatened them to make them hold back."
The NBI was conducting its own probe on the mansions being built for the President in the posh villages of Wack Wack in Mandaluyong City, Green Meadows in Pasig City and Tagaytay Highlands in Tagaytay City where his mistresses live.
For its part, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) expressed confidence that the evidence against the President was strong enough to attain a conviction.
"It is almost certain that the paper trail of checks, receipts and other ownership documents will be traced all the way back to Estrada," KMU chairman Crispin Beltran noted.
Beltran said Mr. Estrada’s guilt will become more established as more witnesses and documents are presented by the prosecution.
"The senators still have the opportunity to prove themselves on the side of the people and uphold the verdict that the people’s courts all over the country have laid down against Estrada," he added.  With Perseus Echemeniniaz, Mayen Jaymalin