THAT’S MY BOY. Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada visits his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, at his Senate office to greet him on his birthday on Monday and give him moral support amid accusations he pocketed tens of millions of pesos in pork barrel kickbacks. Also in photo are Estrada’s other son, Sen. JV Ejercito, and Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., who has also been implicated in the pork barrel scam. GRIG MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines—Protesting a colleague’s “three-point shot” remark on the testimony of pork barrel scam witness Ruby Tuason against him, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Monday challenged the Senate to convene the ethics committee to investigate him.
Taking the floor on his 51st birthday, Estrada said Sen. Teofisto Guingona III had “prejudged” with his remarks using terms in the game of basketball the outcome of the blue ribbon committee inquiry into the alleged misuse of P10 billion in the lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund.
Estrada said he “almost fell off” his seat when he heard Guingona, the committee chair, conclude that Tuason’s testimony was not only a “three-point shot, but a buzzer-beater and a winning shot.”
“Is it right for a chair of the committee to prejudge the outcome of any committee hearing?” he said, addressing Senate President Franklin Drilon.
“If he has already prejudged the trial, that I am guilty, what’s the reason to call another hearing? If you or anybody here in the Senate has any goods against me, the proper forum is the Senate ethics committee,” he added.
Unfair
Estrada said prejudging the outcome of the hearing was “unfair” to him and his colleagues implicated in the scandal.
None of the senators present took up the challenge to convene the ethics committee. Guingona was not around.
Estrada, along with Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr., and the alleged brains of the scam, Janet Lim-Napoles, are under investigation in the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the pork barrel scandal that has sparked widespread public condemnation. All of them have denied wrongdoing.
A former social secretary of former President Joseph Estrada, Tuason testified before the blue ribbon committee that she delivered kickbacks to Senator Estrada in his Senate office, a comedy bar and in his home in Greenhills, San Juan City.
The 62-year-old Tuason is also facing plunder charges. She went to the United States after the scandal broke out in July 2013 and returned on Feb. 7, saying she wanted to turn state witness because her conscience bothered her. She offered to return P40 million in commissions she said she received while working for Napoles.
Estrada vehemently denied Tuason’s allegations, saying “Tita Ruby” delivered trays of sandwiches and not bags of peso bills.
‘I’ve been demonized’
On the floor on Monday, Estrada said Tuason’s testimony was “empty,” as he assailed Guingona for prejudging the hearing.
“I’ve been demonized in the newspapers. We kept on hogging the headlines almost every day… that there was a new whistle-blower who was going to pin me down. But in truth and in fact, her testimony was empty,” he said.
“I don’t want to discuss the details… but I feel so hurt by the parting statements made by the chair of the blue ribbon committee. If he chooses that battle, I will give him that battle. No problem with me. We’re all colleagues here. But to prejudge me as guilty, I will not allow that. I will fight that. I have not committed any crime against the Filipino people,” he said.
Former President Estrada, who is now Manila mayor, Enrile, Revilla and other opposition senators turned up in the younger Estrada’s office to celebrate his birthday.
The elder Estrada wished that his son, Enrile and Revilla would “overcome” the scandal. “It’s a vicious cycle. They’re conditioning the minds of the people… that they’re guilty,” he told reporters in his son’s office, which was packed with guests. “That’s what they did to me when I was impeached.”
The former President, who was toppled by a people’s revolt in 2001 over charges of corruption, incompetence and inefficiency, and later convicted of plunder, acknowledged that the controversy was affecting his son’s political plans.
“Once he’s cleared, he’ll become more popular,” he said.
‘Stop persecution’
While the elder Estrada was under “house arrest” during his trial for plunder, Jinggoy and his mother, Luisa “Loi” Ejercito, ran for and won seats in the Senate. After he was convicted, Joseph Estrada was pardoned by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Senator Estrada, for his part, aired this birthday wish: “Stop the persecution.”
The senator admitted that he missed Tuason, the food coordinator in his 50th birthday party.
“She used to be in charge of food. Now I had to do it myself,” Estrada said before playing host to reporters at lunch in the Senate press office.
As social secretary to the elder Estrada, Tuason was in charge of state dinners in Malacañang and apparently also handled special family occasions.
All those good, happy times between the Estradas and Tuason are over now. Days after flying home from the United States, Tuason took to the witness stand and said she delivered bags of money to Estrada as well as to Enrile’s chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, in restaurants.
Enrile, for his part, challenged Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Antonio Trillanes IV to act as “private prosecutors” against him.
Dare to Santiago, Trillanes
Santiago said Enrile’s presence in Tuason’s meetings with Reyes showed his complicity in the alleged crime while Trillanes insinuated a “possible sabotage” of the case against Enrile resulting from Tuason’s testimony.
Trillanes said he would produce documents showing the connection between Tuason’s lawyer, Dennis Manalo, and Enrile. Manalo said he was no longer connected with the Siguion Reyna, Montecillo & Ongsiako law firm in which Enrile was a partner. Enrile said he severed his ties with the firm in 1965.
“I wish that they would appear as private prosecutors,” Enrile, who turned 90 on Feb. 14, said, referring to his colleagues who were linking him to the scam. “We will welcome them as witnesses or private prosecutors.”
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) in a statement on Monday called on Estrada to resign. Dante Jimenez, VACC president, said: “It was very clear in Ms. Tuason’s testimony that she delivered millions of pesos in kickbacks to his Senate office and his residence in San Juan.”
Originally posted: 8:28 pm | Monday, February 17th, 2014
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