The backbone of the plunder case against former President Joseph Estrada is the evidence presented by the prosecution--thousands of documents and 76 witnesses ascribing a series of alleged wrongdoings to the ousted leader. In many respects, documentary evidence is considered better than testimonial evidence furnished by witnesses. But the prosecutors noted that one cannot prosper without the other. “We cannot present the documents without the witnesses to explain those. They go together. Hindi separate yan," said Arno Sanidad, a private prosecutor. In a politically charged case like the Estrada plunder trial, witnesses were eyed with suspicion. Every uttered word against Estrada was a stamp of approval for the Arroyo administration, the beneficiary of the ouster of the former President in 2001. It did not help that the stint in the witness stand opened new and broader horizons for some of the witnesses--courtesy of the present administration. CHAVIT Defense lawyers spent a considerable amount of time maligning prosecution star witness Luis “Chavit" Singson, the former Ilocos Sur governor who used to be Estrada’s close associate before he blew the whistle on him in 2000. The defense presented 34 witnesses to disprove the allegations of Singson and his personal assistants and aides regarding Estrada’s acceptance of jueteng protection money and eight witnesses to refute his claims that his drinking and gambling buddy misused the P170-million tobacco excise tax for Ilocos Sur. These witnesses are led by Estrada himself, who lamented in court that the charges are politically motivated by Singson, who he claimed was against his efforts to legalize jueteng and was the one who embezzled the tobacco funds. The defense presented him as an elected government official who broke his oath of office and engaged in criminal activities. Singson’s marathon testimony took 16 court hearings, 13 of those where he was subjected to intense grilling by the defense. He said he was still receiving death threats through cell phone text messages up to the eve of his last day on the stand. “Lahat ng gusto ni Chavit nakukuha niya. He is the fair-haired boy of the administration," said defense lawyer Rene Saguisag. After he testified, Singson was appointed presidential adviser for the North Luzon Growth Management Area. He held the post from 2003 until 2004, when he had to resign to campaign for governor. He was among the President’s party in at least one state visit abroad. He was given a slot in the Team Unity senatorial in the May elections but finished in 24th place. President Arroyo appointed Singson’s relatives and “men" to various government posts. Sister Ma. Livia “Honeygirl" Singson-de Leon became chairman of cash cow Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office while cousin Carlitos Singson Encarnacion headed the National Tobacco Administration from 2001 to 2003. A protégé, Enrie Mendoza, inherited his old post, having been named presidential assistant for Northern Luzon. Emma Lim and Ma. Carmencita Itchon, two of Singson’s employees who gave important testimonies in court, got appointments to a government-owned corporation. Lim, Singson’s personal secretary, claimed she collected jueteng protection money intended for Estrada from his son Jinggoy on three occasions. She said she personally delivered jueteng protection money to the former President in Malacañang. Itcon, Chavit’s accountant, said she also received jueteng collections for Estrada. Arroyo gave the two women seats in the Board of Directors of Poro Point Management Corp., a subsidiary of the Bases Conversion Development Authority. Officials of government financial institutions and government-owned and controlled corporations such as the BCDA and its subsidiaries are exempted from the salary standardization law as provided for by their charters and thus received salaries much higher than their counterparts in regular government offices. Critics noted that except for attending board meetings once or twice or a month, board directors do practically nothing but receive P50,000 to P100,000 a month. Defense lawyer Jose Flaminiano said the lucrative posts given to Lim and Itchon is proof that their testimonies come with a prize. “Merong reward e. They may not have really told the truth. Dapat hindi sila tumanggap ng pwesto. It puts some cloud to their testimonies," Flaminiano said. “What’s wrong with that?," Sanidad asked. “They don’t have any jobs. They already testified twice in the Senate. They testified without promise of anything in return. They were risking their lives. The point is that they are telling the truth." WILLY Three highly regarded personalities in the private sector testified in the aspect of the plunder case accusing Estrada of pocketing P189.7 million in commissions from the purchase of shares of Belle Corp. For their testimonies, the three--Estrada’s childhood friend Carlos Arellano, former president, chairman and CEO of the Social Security System; Federico Pascual, former president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System; and businessman Willy Ng Ocier, vice chairman of Belle—were granted broad immunity from criminal charges. Arellano and Pascual, both bankers before their appointment to the government financial institutions, have retired. But Ocier is actively running his businesses. There had been criticisms that the government got the raw end of the deal; the three revealed little in court but had been exempted from all criminal liability. “They (Arellano, Pascual and Ocier) themselves said that they cannot do anything because they are afraid to be charged with plunder. That’s why they agreed to cooperate," said the defense’s Flaminiano. In an e-mailed response to questions prepared by GMA News Research, Ocier denied this: “I spoke quite a mouthful during the trial, and I believe that I answered each and every question accurately and thoroughly, to my knowledge. “For the record, even President ERAP reminded me to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, which I did, in his presence, at the witness stand in the Sandiganbayan," Ocier said. The prosecution claimed Estrada pressured the heads of government financial institutions SSS and GSIS to buy Belle shares worth a total of more than P1.8 billion. Ocier testified before the court that the former President demanded a "cut" or "commission" in exchange for his efforts to realize the purchase by GSIS and SSS. “I decided to testify to tell the truth, and to clarify the innuendos surrounding certain issues that involved certain transactions involving myself and an associate of President Estrada," Ocier said, apparently referring to businessman Jaime Dichaves, A portion of the prosecution’s 626-page memorandum, citing Ocier’s testimony, states that in the late '90s Belle chairman Roberto Ongpin gave Mark Jimenez an option to purchase 650,000,000 Belle shares of stock so that Jimenez could help the company acquire licenses to engage in gambling activities such as jai alai, super sabong, bingo and casino. Jimenez was close to Estrada at that time. “Mr. Ongpin wanted to transform Belle into the foremost gaming company in the Philippines and Mr. Jimenez was known as having great influence during the administration of accused Joseph Estrada," the memorandum read. It never materialized. Ocier said Dichaves offered to sell the shares to local institutions, citing "contacts" there. That contact was Estrada himself. But it appeared that Ocier’s testimony did not come cheap. While Belle, of which Ocier is co-vice chairman, is now primarily focusing on real-estate development, it does not exactly veer away from gaming-related activities. Belle is the majority owner of Pacific Online Systems Corp., which in recent years has received various good deals from the government. Fifty-year-old Ocier is chairman and president of Pacific Online, the government’s exclusive online lottery system supplier in the Visayas and Mindanao. According to its website, Pacific Online entered into an eight-year equipment lease agreement with PCSO in 1995, two years after its incorporation. The company won the contract to provide PCSO with the facility for its online lottery operations in the Visayas and Mindanao. In 2004, the agreement was amended, allowing Pacific Online to deploy a total of 1,800 online terminals around its covered regions. Under the agreement, Pacific Online gets a 10-percent share of all PCSO sales from the conduct of online lottery and digit games in the area and an eight-year term, which started in April 2005. By March 2006, Pacific Online’s coverage area has increased by about 7 percent after PCSO Board Resolution 156 expanding its operations to Palawan, Masbate and Romblon. In June this year, PCSO “appointed" Pacific Online as master distributor of the recently launched scratch card game. In August, Ocier told the Philippine Stock Exchange disclosure department that his company’s first half net income increased by 120 percent compared to last year, owing to the continuous rollout of terminals. Ocier pointed out that the government awarded the contract to Pacific Online during the term of President Fidel Ramos. “It (Pacific Online) has serviced the PCSO quite well for the past 11 years and has successfully developed six highly successful lottery games to help raise money for charity," Ocier said. BANK WITNESSES More than 30 of the prosecution witnesses were officials and employees of at least 10 banks-- Equitable PCI Bank, Citibank, Philippine Savings Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Security Bank, Land Bank of the Philippines, Urban Bank, Export and Industry Bank, United Asia Bank and Keppel Bank. Estrada and his associates are believed to have made many bank transactions involving the alleged criminal acts, the multibillion-peso “Jose Velarde" account where the former President was said to have deposited his ill-gotten wealth. What made the bank witnesses indubitable is the fact that they merely explained the documents at hand and the transactions involved. Sanidad said many were indifferent. “May ayaw magsalita. Merong iba-iba yung sinasabi. Others had no choice; they had to respond to the subpoena," he said. Court observers said star witness Clarissa Ocampo, the Equitable PCI Bank senior vice president who testified that she was a foot away when Estrada signed bank documents as “Jose Velarde," had no motive to testify falsely against Estrada, making her credible. However, defense lawyers insisted during the trial that Ocampo made such testimony to save her bank because it was experiencing heavy withdrawals from November to December 2000. “So she (Ocampo) was prepared to save the bank... saving her retirement fund plus handsome bonus for it (testimony against Estrada)," Estrada’s counsel de oficio, the late Prospero Crescini, said when Ocampo testified in November 2002. For that, Ocampo received benefits from the bank, which also issued a board resolution “making her a heroine," the defense said. Defense lawyer Saguisag believes Ocampo was paid handsomely by the bank for testifying. Ocampo was also feted by President Arroyo herself in Malacañang. An Equitable PCI Bank official said Ocampo, believed to be out of the country, is still with the bank as a consultant. More than half of the 30 bank witnesses were from Equitable PCI Bank. The bank’s vice presidents, branch managers, account officers and customer service assistant tellers were constrained to appear before the Senate and, eventually, the Sandiganbayan because they were authorized by the bank president himself, who received the subpoena containing the list of witnesses. Said a bank officer who declined to be named: “I am only testifying based on the documents. Whatever is written, yun ang sasabihin ko. " “Siguro nga my testimony was used against (Estrada) but technically speaking, I was there just to verify some transactions in my bank," said the banker who testified twice, before the Senate and the Sandiganbayan. But unlike Ocampo, the source and her colleagues were not offered witness protection. Almost all of them are still with the bank; some had been reassigned to other branches. “There was no compensation but we were given a citation acknowledging our efforts, for being brave enough to stand as witness," the banker said.SILENCED? There was no shortage of witnesses for the prosecution. Villa-Ignacio said they were ready with three or four witnesses every time. The defense presented 79 witnesses, more than the prosecution’s. But defense counsel Rene Saguisag said the number should have been bigger; more people had expressed an intention to disprove the charges against Estrada. “May mga nag-commit pero umatras. Ayaw lumaban sa gobyerno," Saguisag said. One would-be witness backed out on the eve of his supposed appearance at the Sandiganbayan. Another was a high-ranking official who was “willing to help but, apparently, not that far." “He would have provided very useful testimony," Saguisag said. When the defense was presenting its evidence, Estrada himself had grumbled about what he called “prosecutorial terrorism," alluding to the ambush of state auditor Agustin Chan Jr. and the suspension of Zamboanga regional director Carlos Saunar of the National Bureau of Investigation. Saunar was dismissed early this year. Chan, then Ilocos Sur provincial auditor, and his driver were killed in an ambush in Bantay town in Ilocos Sur on October 4, 2001. He had authored a Commission on Audit report showing that Singson had not been liquidating the tobacco excise tax of the province and had demanded the former governor to liquidate the funds, worth millions of pesos. Estrada had testified that Singson had asked his help to transfer Chan to another assignment because the auditor would not “cooperate" with him. Estrada said he told the governor that he could not do that because COA is an independent constitutional body. Saunar, chief of the NBI Antigraft Division when Estrada was President, cleared the former President in the aspect of the plunder case accusing him of misappropriating the P170-million tobacco excise tax for Ilocos Sur. Saunar had testified that his investigation on the alleged misappropriation showed that no single document linked Estrada to the anomaly. He said the paper trail pointed to Singson as the one who diverted the tobacco funds, adding that he had recommended to the secretary of justice the filing of plunder and malversation charges against the former governor. Then NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco subsequently ordered the relief of Saunar for his alleged violation of an NBI policy on confidentiality of investigation records and for “manifestation of partiality" in testifying for Estrada. Defense lawyers said the relief is tantamount to “tampering with a witness" because Saunar was then still on the witness stand undergoing cross-examination. The defense presented a host of other witnesses. Some of them were high-profile political figures who are friends of Estrada such as senators Aquilino Pimentel, Edgardo Angara and Alfredo Lim (now Manila mayor) and a handful of journalists who witnessed certain events and some Ilocos Sur personalities. The prosecution noted that these people have nothing to do with the case. They mainly tried to soften the image of Estrada or to destroy the credibility of Singson. The defense, on the other hand, said the prosecution failed to produce a single jueteng lord who would corroborate Singson’s claims or at least one of the alleged depositors to the “Jose Velarde" account. Sanidad said they have never presented any witness that was not essential to the case. In the case of the jueteng and the tobacco excise tax, he said, “Walang witness na alam ang buong kwento. Kailangan may corroboration. Not one witness was capable of presenting evidence in relation to the entire transactions. The testimonies would be taken as a whole," he said. In the end, it will be witness against witness, evidence against evidence, and the Sandiganbayan decides whom to believe.
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