Erap denies receiving P545 million in gambling payoffs

Ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada denied yesterday taking P545 million in payoffs from jueteng operators as the government’s star witness, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, had alleged.

The money is part of about P4 billion that prosecutors allege Estrada amassed from illegal gambling payoffs, tax kickbacks and commissions stashed in secret bank accounts under an alias.

Under direct examination by one of his lawyers, retired Manila fiscal Jose Flaminiano, Estrada called Singson’s allegations "nothing but lies."

"I never received a single centavo from illegal gambling. I never consented to any form of illegal gambling, particularly jueteng, even when I was a mayor," he said in Filipino.

"I never conspired with anyone, especially jueteng lords."

Testifying for the third time in his five-year-old plunder trial, the 68-year-old Estrada said that as mayor of San Juan long before he was elected president in 1998, he led a campaign against illegal gambling and ordered police to "go all-out against all forms" of such operations.

When he became San Juan mayor in the 1960s, he said the very first thing he did was to order the police chief to close down all jueteng operations in the town.

Estrada added that, to his dismay, jueteng continued, prompting him to lead raids on illegal gambling establishments himself.

"I issued a memorandum and directives to our chief of police to go out against all forms of illegal gambling," he said.

"He reported to me that all jueteng joints were closed down, and that there were no more gambling operations in San Juan. But I heard information that there were still jueteng operations so I personally led the raids. I had them all arrested and placed behind bars."

Estrada said more than 60 people involved in jueteng, among them bet collectors, were arrested and thrown in jail, and that the following day, the wives and children of those arrested went to his office to ask him to release their husbands and fathers.

"Our municipal jail was too small" so police adopted a "standing room only" policy, he said.

"The following day, there was also ‘standing room only’ in the office of the mayor. The women and the children were crying. Nakikiusap sila na bakit kinulong ang mga asawa nila. Bakit daw hinuli e binoto naman nila ako. Sinabi ko na hindi porket binoto nila ako ay pwede na ang illegal. Kaya sinabi ko na sabihin sa mga asawa nila na tigilan na yang kobrador-kobrador na yan (They asked me why I jailed their husbands. They told me that they voted for me so why did I arrest their husbands. I told them that voting for me was not a pass for them to do illegal things. So I told them to tell their husbands to stop working as bet collectors for jueteng operators)."

Estrada said the wives of the arrested jueteng collectors asked him to give their husbands jobs as garbage collectors after the illegal numbers game was stopped.

"Ang sabi nila ay maawa daw ako sa kanila (They asked me to pity them)," he said.

"Kung ako naman daw ang nasa lugar ng mga asawa nila ay hindi ko matitiis na magutom sila. Kung mawawala daw ang jueteng e bigyan ko daw sila ng trabaho kahit na basurero lang. Ang sagot ko ay hindi ko sila mapagbibigyan dahil 60 sila e lima lang ang truck ng basura ng San Juan. Talagang naawa po ako sa kanila at pinangako ko na magtatayo ako ng livelihood program (They told me if I were in their husbands’ places, I would not stand to see their families go hungry. They said if jueteng would be stopped that I should give their husbands’ jobs even as garbage collectors. I replied that I cannot help them because there were 60 of them and San Juan had only five garbage trucks. I really pitied them, and I promised that I would set up a livelihood program for them)."

Estrada said his anti-illegal gambling stand was even mentioned by national artist Nick Joaquin in his book "Joseph Estrada and Other Sketches."

Joaquin, being a national artist, would not write something that is not true, he added.

However, Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio countered that Joaquin is noted more for being a fiction writer.

Continuing with his testimony, Estrada told the court that when he was elected senator, his first privilege speech on Nov. 25, 1987 was on the legalization of jueteng.

"My policy has not changed," he said.

"But I was then appointed by President Ramos to be chairman of the PACC to go after drugs, kidnapping and carnapping. Those were my priorities. Jueteng was not one of them."

Estrada said if jueteng were to be legalized, it could generate P360 million a day for the national government.

When he became vice president and chairman of the defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, his stand on jueteng did not change even though the drive against illegal gambling was not one of the priorities of the PACC, he added.

Estrada said after being elected president in 1998, one of the first things he did was to name Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma chairwoman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and map out a plan to legalize jueteng.

However, Palma soon after quit to take care of her sick husband, he added. Estrada said he then appointed Rosario Lopez as PCSO chairwoman and tasked her to continue with the study.

However, the study never materialized, he added.

Estrada told the court that he then tasked Alice Reyes, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chairwoman, to complete the study.

"After a few months, the study was finished," he said. "She went to Malacañang to inform me na tapos na ang kanilang pag-aaral (that the study is complete). She told me na ang sagot (the answer to) jueteng ay ang (is) Bingo 2-Ball," he said.

Reyes told him that state-run Bingo 2-Ball could replace jueteng as its legal form, he added.

Estrada said Reyes had told him that should jueteng be legalized, the government could rake in P5 billion in profits every year.

"Legalization of jueteng would also benefit at least 150,000 people involved in the illegal gambling industry as they would be receiving insurance benefits under the Social Security Service or the Government Service Insurance System," he said.

Estrada said legalization of jueteng would also remove graft and corruption in the police and local governments. Estrada said he instructed Reyes that instead of depositing part of the proceeds from legalized jueteng to the Presidential Social Fund, it could instead be channeled to the social funds of mayors and governors.

"Immediately, there was a dry run" conducted in Bulacan, he said.

"It was quite successful. In three weeks, it earned P21 million for the government of Bulacan. Unfortunately, the jueteng lords were against it. Then there was the allegation na kumukuha ako sa jueteng kaya napatigil ito (that I was receiving jueteng payoffs, so it was stopped)," he said.

After the noon break, Estrada returned to the witness stand and, under direct examination, denied knowledge of the alleged jueteng ledgers presented earlier by Singson.

"I do not know what is written here," he said.

"I have only seen these on the television during the impeachment trial. As far as these documents are concerned, wala po akong alam dyan. Nalaman ko na lang po nang iprisenta ito ni Chavit Singson sa television (I don’t know anything about them. I only learned about them when they were presented by Chavit Singson on television)," he testified.

Upon seeing the ledgers on television, he ordered then Justice Secretary Artemio Toquero to conduct an investigation, Estrada said.

Yesterday’s hearing ended with Estrada claiming that one of the documents presented by the prosecution — a notice of funding issued by the Department of Budget and Management advising the government of Ilocos Sur about the release of P200 million, as its share of the tobacco excise tax — was one of the documents allegedly falsified by Singson.

However, Special Prosecutor Villa Ignacio countered that it could not have been falsified as it was signed by then Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Next Wednesday’s hearing was suspended by the special division in deference to Holy Wednesday.

The hearing resumes on April 19, Estrada’s birthday.

Estrada’s lawyers yesterday requested the court that the hearing on that day begin at 9:30 a.m. instead of at 9 a.m. as Estrada had made a request to attend Mass at the nearby St. Peter’s Church.

Villa Ignacio told the court that the prosecution is not objecting to the request as long as proper security arrangements are made with the Philippine National Police.

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, special division chairwoman, instructed former senator Rene Saguisag, Estrada’s lead counsel, to formally inform the court of the request.

Meanwhile, the special division warned prosecution and defense lawyers yesterday to stop making public statements on the merits of Estrada’s plunder case and comply with the sub judice rule or risk being cited in contempt.

"Anything that is reserved for the court to rule, lawyers cannot rule on it in public," Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta said.

"You are testing the patience of the court to the limits, you know the rules. You have been violating the rules on sub judice. I tell you, the court can take its initiative to protect its sanctity."