(Update) Loren regrets joining group that ousted Erap

CABANATUAN CITY – Politics makes strange bed fellows and on Thursday front-running opposition senatorial candidate Loren Legarda made a stunning revelation--she regrets her participation in ousting former President Joseph Estrada during the abbreviated impeachment trial. “Nagsisisi po kami na nandun sa Edsa 2. Hindi po sana nangyari yun kung nabuksan lamang ang ‘second envelope.’ I just did my job as a senator-judge [in the impeachment tria] (We felt sorry we joined the EDSA 2 revolt. It might not have happened if the second envelope were opened)," Legarda told local and Manila-based reporters in Nueva Ecija. The impeachment court, then packed with senators allied with Estrada, voted 11-10 against the opening of the second envelope, which the prosecution claimed contained incriminating huge bank accounts of the former leader. The dispute sparked a walk-out of the prosecution with Legarda seen crying on the shoulder of Sen. Franklin Drilon. The walk out led to EDSA 2, which subsequently forced Estrada to leave Malacañang “to prevent bloodshed." Legarda, who is running under the Genuine Opposition ticket, said she was crying “dahil pinigil na ilabas ang katotohanan (they suppressed the truth)." “Had the second envelope been opened, this (EDSA 2) would not happen. I want the second envelope opened because I want the truth to come out," Legarda said. “We were in EDSA 2 not because we want to oust President Estrada. We were in EDSA 2 not because we want to install [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]," Legarda said. She said that when the next Congress decided to open the “second envelope," it was found out that it contained not Estrada’s account but the bank account of Jaime Dichaves. But since EDSA 2, nothing had changed, Legarda said. She said this was the reason other EDSA 2 personalities regretted participating in that historic event. “Had the envelope been opened, maybe he (Estrada) managed to finish his term and there had been a closure in the impeachment trial proceedings," she said. Legarda had not been quite vocal in admitting of committing a “mistake" in the political affiliation she had backed then. It was only Thursday when she categorically uttered the word “regretful" in being among those who joined EDSA 2. In fact, during an interview with Manila-based reporters covering the GO campaign sorties, Legarda renewed calls for a speedy disposition of the plunder case of Estrada pending before the Sandiganbayan. “Yes I agree to that. To be fair to (former) President Erap (Estrada) there must be speedy justice. I think it is also for his own interest. That case has been pending for six years now. He had been detained for years now and yet there is no resolution of the case," she said. “But that is not the only issue that needs to be afforded justice. Also, all those who have been involved in anomalies in [the] government – the fertilizer fund scam, those involved in electoral fraud – what happened to those cases?" she asked. Besides Legarda, another GO senatorial candidate, former senator John Osmeña had expressed the same sentiment, during a recent campaign rally in Laguna. Osmeña extended his apology for his decision to turn back on the former leader when he decided to join the administration ticket during the 2004 elections. Osmeña, along with Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, ran under the administration ticket K4 during the 2004 presidential elections. Both were members of the minority block who succeeded in blocking the opening of the “second envelope during the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada. While Defensor won, Osmeña lost allegedly after he was junked by his party mates. 2004 poll issue refuses to die Also Thursday, Legarda challenged former opposition figures who jumped into the administration senatorial ticket to make a categorical statement on the issue of whether or not Mrs Arroyo cheated her way in the 2004 presidential elections. Legarda, who was the running-mate of the opposition’s then standard bearer, the late Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ), said her protest case against Vice President Noli de Castro that is pending before the presidential electoral tribunal is a testament on the alleged massive cheating in the polls. “I think that my protest speaks for itself. The fact that I protested and that it was given due course, of course, we may not be able to finish the whole process because of the expense and slow pace, but it speaks for itself. “Electoral fraud is connected with corruption. So we must address the issue," she said during an interview with Manila-based reporters. Legarda was reacting to the emerging verbal tussle over the issue, currently involving Joseph Victor JV Ejercito and some Team Unity (TU) candidates. Ejercito brought the matter following reports that TU candidate Vicente Sotto III was quoted to have said that the opposition should now stop questioning the legitimacy of the Arroyo presidency and present instead a program of government other than the ouster of the President. “I just want to ask them one thing if they (administration bets) really feel that it is time to junk the legitimacy issue. Do they really believe that the 2004 elections were clean? I would just like to ask this question to them," Ejercito said. While saying that they still maintain close personal association despite differences in political opinion, Legarda said Ejercito’s call indeed is wanting an answer. The matter of platform of government, she said, need not be debated saying the matter of the legitimacy issue being brought against Mrs Arroyo is indeed a legitimate issue. “We have been talking about platforms from day one. We have been talking about our 10-point agenda. We have been talking about providing for a program for more accessible quality health care, better salary for teachers and support for protection of our farmers…I think its very clear. “I think it’s a waste of time to debate whether each group has legislative agenda because we have been talking about that since day one (of the campaign). “But the legitimacy issue continues to hound the administration. My protest which I fought for three years, speaks for itself. But of course it is not the only issue. - GMANews.TV