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Thursday, September 13, 2007
Estrada guilty verdict vindicates Arroyo: official
MANILA -- Malacañang said the guilty verdict on the plunder charge against former President Joseph Estrada signifies a vindication for the Arroyo administration and justifies the Edsa People Power 2 of January 2001.
The Sandiganbayan on Wednesday sentenced Estrada to life imprisonment for the plunder charge but acquitted the ousted leader of perjury case. Estrada co-accused in the perjury case, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and lawyer Edward Serapio, were cleared of the charge.
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Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said the verdict also sends a strong signal that the government is serious and committed to prosecute and punish erring officials.
He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was in Malacañang when she heard of the guilty verdict on the plunder charges and not guilty decision on perjury case.
“Well, she (Arroyo) did not comment but she received the verdict well,” he said when asked of the President’s reaction when they talked.
“She seems to be vindicated, in a sense,” Apostol added.
President Arroyo appeared to be in a light mood in her first appearance before photographers and cameramen earlier in the morning about an hour after the verdict was handed down.
Arroyo, during the farewell call of outgoing Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki in Malacañang’s Music Room, wore a light blue dress. She had claimed in 2003 that a Marian visionary told her to wear light blue at times of trial, so that she will be victorious.
A photographer noted that the President seemed to want the affair to immediately end because she left shortly after giving the Order of Sikatuna Rank of Datu award to Yamazaki.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in an emailed message to Palace reporters, said: “We bow to the decision of the Sandiganbayan. We hope and pray that the rule of law will prevail. Meantime, we have a country to run, an economy to grow, and a peace to win. We hope that this sad episode in our history will not permanently distract us from these goals.”
Apostol said Malacañang opted to be silent about the verdict, but several Cabinet officials and lawmakers trooped to the Palace before lunch to meet with the President and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
He denied that a party was organized although “there are many congressmen inside, I don’t know why, but they are eating.”
The Office of the Executive Secretary said some of the lawmakers attended a meeting with Ermita and some Cabinet officials, which lasted for a couple of hours.
Closure
Apostol said the verdict, aside from justifying the massing up in Edsa in January 2001 that led to Estrada’s ouster and Arroyo’s assuming the presidency, should put a closure to the legitimacy issue.
He said the question of the legitimacy of the Arroyo government had actually been resolved since 2001 after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in favor of the current administration and it was reaffirmed when Arroyo won the presidency in 2004.
He hoped that the opposition, particularly the Estrada camp, would finally “close the whole thing” after the Sandiganbayan verdict.
Former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, principal witness in the plunder case, said the verdict was a vindication to everyone involved in the prosecution.
Singson said the prosecution presented tons of evidence and witnesses compared to defense particularly the Estrada camp that he said engaged more in propaganda.
Pardon
Vice President Noli de Castro called for sobriety and calm, and said he supports a presidential pardon for Estrada as “the first step towards national reconciliation.”
De Castro was quick to add, however, that pardon should not be equated as an admission of guilt, but rather “as an offer of reconciliation for the nation and of giving dignity to a former President.”
Apostol said the possibility of granting pardon to the 70-year-old Estrada due to old age is “exclusively her (Arroyo’s) private affair.”
“She's the only one who can do that. And you know, the President usually keeps things close to her heart. She seldom talks about it,” she said.
He doubted whether Estrada would complete the 40 years of imprisonment provided for under the penalty of reclusion perpetua.
He said the Palace will bow to the Sandiganbayan decision on where to detain Estrada, adding that the anti-graft court has “control of the body of the accused” within 15 days from the handing down of the verdict.
He said Estrada will stay in his detention place in Tanay, Rizal until the court and the defense lawyers have worked out an arrangement. But he said if no appeal is made, there would be no choice but to send Estrada to the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa.
But he was quick to add that he personally wants Estrada to be sent to Leyte because “there is a penitentiary there.” Apostol used to be congressman of Leyte.
Apostol is confident the Supreme Court (SC) would uphold the anti-graft court’s decision as “the appeal in the SC is a question of law.”
He dismissed the not guilty verdict against Jinggoy and Serapio, admitting that the evidence against them were weak.
Influence
While his father called the decision a “political verdict,” Senator Estrada said the anti-graft court would have declared him, former President Estrada, and Serapio not guilty of all the charges against them “if Malacañang did not influence the court.”
“I am making this appeal to the honorable justices of the Sandiganbayan to base their decision solely on the merits of the case and not be influenced by outsiders, especially by Malacañang. If Malacañang intervenes, I don’t think we can get a fair decision,” said Senator Estrada.
The younger Estrada warned that with the court’s decision, President Arroyo will only gain the ire of the Filipino people, insisting her legitimacy is still in question.
Senate President Manuel Villar Jr., for his part, is saddened by the guilty verdict.
“I pray that he gets the justice that he richly deserves. The genius of our justice system works when we bestow faith in it. I am certain, given another day in court, President Estrada will get justice,” he said.
Warning
The militant lawmakers, among those who filed the plunder charges against Estrada, welcomed the Sandiganbayan decision.
They said the court’s decision should serve as a warning against erring public officials.
National Police Chief Oscar Calderon said while no untoward incident took place during the promulgation, they will continue monitoring the supporters of the fallen leader.
“The group of the former President could avail of all the rights available. We cannot really prevent them from having caucus and from conducting conference to discuss legal remedies because that is the right of every citizen,” said Calderon.
“We are continuing our coordination with them (Estrada supporters) so that their actions would be peaceful. Their activities do not have to be violent. We are allowing them (to gather) but my guideline is that if anybody will violate the law, we will arrest them. But at present, I am happy that it was peaceful and they followed our agreement,” he said.
Full alert
Calderon said the Philippine National Police (PNP) will remain to be on full alert status despite the peaceful promulgation of the sentence on former President Estrada.
He said the PNP will remain the custodian of the former President. The deposed leader returned to his rest house in Tanay town in Rizal where he has been on house arrest for the past several years.
He appealed to the Estrada supporters for sobriety following a statement by one of his followers that the Arroyo government should be ready for a new people revolution.
Downgraded sentence
An official of the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the convicted former President may not be able to elude incarceration despite his being 70 years old.
The official, who asked not to be named, said former President Estrada will not be covered by provisions under the Revised Penal Code (RPC), which prescribes the downgrading of sentence if the convicted felon is 70 years old and above.
Under Article 13 (2) of the RPC, an offender who is either 18 years old or over 70 years old can avail of the privilege mitigating circumstances that will enable them to serve a downgraded sentence.
Former President Estrada is 70. The criminal offense of plunder used to be punishable by death or reclusion perpetua.
"This provision will not apply to former President Estrada although he is entitled to the privilege (of a downgraded sentence), being 70 years old. The nullification of the death penalty last year does not cancel or eliminate the jail term of convicts," the DOJ official said.
Public Attorney Percida Rueda-Acosta said former President Estrada may still be freed if he avails of an executive clemency, an option that the ousted leader has rejected.
"The fastest and most practical that could be given to him (former President Estrada) for executive clemency is pardon. Executive acts are the prerogative of the President," Acosta said.
Respect judgment
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales asked the Estrada supporters to accept and respect the judgment of the anti-graft court.
”The law is to be respected. And part of the law is the provision to appeal to the higher court, for reconsideration, for a lesser verdict or pardon, etc. This should be the proper succeeding recourse instead of settling the score in the streets or elsewhere,” he said.
Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), also considered the ruling of the court as a “call for change” among our government leaders.
“We respect it as a human judgment by a human court tasked precisely to examine the case,” he said.
“We regard it also as a call to repentance and a call for change or conversion affecting not only the person of (former) President Estrada but also many others in our government. The one who will profit from the good fruit of such a decision or judgment is no less than the country itself which is known to have been suffering from all kinds of graft and corruption and plunder. It is a warning sign,” he added.
Lagdameo is offering a prayer for former President Estrada that he may have the “spiritual strength to face the new situation, which is not beyond the reach of the divine mercy.”
Instability
Meanwhile, a businessman said the conviction of former President Estrada might bring short-term instability but could be a major factor to stabilize the country’s political and business climate.
But Alberto Lim, executive director of the influential Makati Business Club (MBC), said more than the conviction, what local and foreign investors needed to invest in the country is the “rule of law and consistency of policies.”
“We in the business community welcomed the decision since it would help bring a closure to the six-year-old controversial case. It really proved to the international community that there is still a rule of law in the country since we were able to convict a former President,” Lim said.
He said the verdict showed that despite initial doubts on the country’s justice system was able to rise to the occasion and political bickering engendered by the case and show that the rule of law still prevails in the country.
“This decision might bring political stability in the long run but the government should not rest on the conviction and implement reform measures,” he said.
He said businessmen would like to see reform measures implemented and graft and corruption and bureaucratic red tape eliminated by the government to bring political stability in the long term. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (September 13, 2007 issue)
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