Erap denies forcing Singson to hand P1.2-M to Laarni

Former president Joseph Estrada denied Wednesday allegations that he ordered Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson to give Laarni Enriquez, one of the former's mistresses, P1.2-million as a "birthday gift." Testifying for the fourth time before the Sandiganbayan Special Division on plunder and perjury charges, Estrada said his erstwhile buddy Singson acted on his own free will when he gave the money to Enriquez' family. Singson had claimed that the money was allegedly drawn from the jueteng account of Estrada. Estrada said about P1 million went to Jacob, his first-born son with Enriquez, while the remaining P200,000 was divided among their two other children. Jacob is a godson of Singson, who said he handed the P1.2-million check in December 1999 to Enriquez as a "birthday gift." Estrada denied, however, that it was a birthday gift since Enriquez' birth date falls on the month of September. He said he was even surprised by the "generous" present but assumed the local executive was trying to get to his good side because he was then the country's president. Senator Luisa "Loi" Ejercito, legal wife of Estrada, was at the courtroom when the deposed president made the disclosure, GMA 7's DZBB reported. Two of their children, Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Jacqueline Ejercito-Lopez, were also reportedly with Luisa at that time. Estrada's fourth testimony lasted only until 12 noon. Lead Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio agreed to adjourn court hearings early to allow Estrada and his family, relatives and friends to celebrate his 69th birthday. NO NEED Also during the hearing, Estrada acknowledged he knew witness Yolanda Ricaforte but denied she worked for him as auditor for his jueteng collections. Ricaforte is the wife of Orestes Ricaforte, former tourism undersecretary during Estrada's incumbency. According to Singson's testimony, Ricaforte was supposedly hired by Estrada to keep tabs of the governor's jueteng monthly kickbacks and their distribution to various personalities. She allegedly maintained a ledger where she listed the names of jueteng payola beneficiaries, the amounts allotted to them and the dates when the monies were delivered and received and who received them. Among those in the ledger were Asyong Aksaya, allegedly Estrada's codename. The deposed leader allegedly received a monthly take of P5 million from jueteng lords. Ricaforte, during the 2000 Senate blue ribbon committee hearings on Singson's jueteng allegations, had denied working as Estrada's auditor. Estrada told the Sandiganbayan that Ricaforte was never his jueteng auditor. "I did not need a jueteng auditor because I did not have any jueteng collections when I was president," DZBB quoted him as saying. He said he appointed Ricaforte as director of the meat processing company Campo Carne upon the request of her husband, who said they needed the extra income. He also denied paying P5 million in jueteng kickbacks to a certain Paul Bograd, a foreign public relations consultant. ACCESS In other related developments, the defense panel asked the Sandiganbayan to allow Estrada to access the media to comment on national issues. Villa-Ignacio did not oppose the motion filed by defense lawyer Rene Saguisag, but reminded the former president to limit his media comments on national issues and refrain from discussing merits of his plunder and perjury cases. The prosecution stressed the sub judice rule applies to both the defense and prosecution panels. Saguisag, in filing the motion, claimed Estrtada has long wanted to comment on "hot" issues and join the national debate but has been constrained from doing so because of the court's media ban. "He was a former president. And he is still presumed innocent (from the charges). He should be allowed to comment on national issues," GMA 7's DZBB quoted the defense lawyer. He complained that the policemen guarding Estrada have been very strict about allowing the former president from using his cellular phones, especially for media interviews.-GMANews.TV