Saguisag to quit as Estrada lawyer in plunder case

Former Sen. Rene Saguisag expressed his intention yesterday to withdraw as lawyer of jailed former President Joseph Estrada in the plunder case, saying he could not prioritize Estrada’s case over some of the other cases he is now handling.

Saguisag expressed this intention during yesterday’s open court hearing at the Sandiganbayan third division chaired by Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy.

He and Estrada’s other lawyers, Cleofe Verzola and Jose Flaminiano hardly convinced the anti-graft court not to hold the trial of Estrada and his son former San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada until November.

Badoy flatly denied the defense motion to move the start of the plunder trial from October to November. Instead, Badoy scheduled the trial to Oct. 1, 17 and 18 and on the succeeding Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

"If the court insists on the three days-a-week trial starting October, I have to leave Estrada. My schedule is already fully booked with the other cases that I am handling, some of them pro bono," Saguisag said.

He said that he could not do a good job if he is compelled to attend three hearings a week starting October.

"I’d rather withdraw as a lawyer for Estrada than fail serving him," Saguisag stressed.

Flaminiano said that he is also fully booked with court cases in October, including the tax credit certificate cases involving former Finance Undersecretary Antonio Bellicena that were raffled to five divisions of the Sandiganbayan.

Aside from postponing the plunder trial to November, Saguisag, Verzola and Flaminiano also asked the Sandiganbayan to hold only one or two trials a week so they could attend to other cases they are handling.