Estrada's testimony before Sandigan ends

The testimony of former President Joseph Estrada before the Sandiganbayan Special Division for his plunder and perjury cases formally ended Wednesday after defense lawyers opted against a re-direct examination of the deposed leader. The prosecution panel ended its cross-examination of Estrada after Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita de Castro rejected its motion to play video footage showing Estrada signing documents related to a controversial power contract with an Argentine firm. Defense lawyers had the option to again directly grill Estrada but decided against it, saying they were already "satisfied with what we (prosecutors) have pointed out during the direct examination." Sandiganbayan justices said Estrada's presence in the next hearings will no longer be necessary since he would no longer be taking the witness stand. The justices also suspended the once-a-week hearing schedule and announced hearings would again be held two times a week. The regular schedule was temporarily shelved as a special consideration for Estrada, who said attending the twice-a-week hearing schedule would be difficult for him because of the distance of his Tanay, Rizal detention facility from the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City. The graft court also gave Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio five days to submit his petition seeking reconsideration of the court's ruling related to the showing of the video footage. It also gave the defense panel until Friday to submit the names of two more witnesses it would want to present in relation to the charges slapped against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and lawyer Edward Serapio, the former president’s two co-accused in the plunder and perjury cases. The court gave the defense panel two weeks to prepare for the direct examination of their additional witnesses. The next hearings are scheduled for July 17 and 19 at 9 a.m. TRAVEL PERMIT In a related development, the Sandiganbayan gave Senator Estrada the green light to travel to the United States for 16 days. The court allowed the senator to go to San Francisco and Los Angeles cities in the United States in relation to his function as chairman of the Senate labor relations committee. The senator sought the court's permission on Monday, claiming he would want to meet with Filipino communities in the two US cities to check on their working conditions. Magistrates agreed to allow the senator, noting he had faithfully complied with court requirements in his previous foreign trips. The last time the Sandiganbayan allowed Estrada to travel out of the country was last April, when he was scheduled to consult with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong. The trip did not push through because Estrada was hospitalized a day before his scheduled flight. ENOUGH Villa-Ignacio, in an interview with GMA 7's DZBB, said the prosecution remains confident it would pin Estrada on charges filed against the former president. He said Estrada's admissions that he signed bank documents as Jose Velarde and that jueteng money amounting to at least P200 million was deposited to the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation would be enough to convince the graft court that he was guilty of the government's accusations. Estrada, in one of his testimonies, admitted he signed bank documents as Jose Velarde but claimed he was merely acting as a guarantor for plastics king William Gatchalian, who was allegedly trying to obtain a loan from businessman Jaime Dichavez at the time. He had claimed that Dichavez, the supposed real owner of the bank account, asked him to sign the bank documents as guarantee that Gatchalian would pay back the loan. Regarding the issue of the jueteng proceeds, Estrada admitted he was aware that Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson deposited P200 million to the Equitable-PCI bank account of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation but said he ordered Serapio to return the money to Singson. The defense panel claimed it scored victory with the early termination of Estrada's cross-examination, which was originally scheduled to end in mid-August this year.-GMANews.TV