PAO LAWYERS WANT OUT AS ERAP COUNSEL: Lawyers from the Public Attorney’s
Office named by the Sandiganbayan Special Division to defend Joseph Estrada
are pressing their request for the court to reconsider their appointment,
saying Estrada himself has rejected them.
One of the lawyers, Arturo Temanil, said in an interview they are going by
PAO’s line that it is not proper for public defenders to represent somebody
who cannot be deemed an "indigent accused."
As of press time, however, PAO has not filed a manifestation before the
Sandiganbayan.
The lawyers, Temanil, Melita Lauron, Silvestre Mosing, and Joefferson
Toribio, made the decision at a meeting Wednesday.
Today, the court will hear the plea of four private lawyers led by
Mario Ongkiko to also recall their appointments and replace them with
Estrada’s original defense team.
Also appointed to represent Estrada are former Sandiganbayan presiding
justice Manuel Pamaran, Rodolfo Jimenez, Prospero Crescini and Irene Jurado.
Ongkiko, Pamaran, Crescini and Jurado have informed the court they want
out as Estrada defenders.
The court had denied an earlier bid of PAO to relieve its lawyers as counsel
for Estrada.
Manila Times, 22 March 2002
3,000 POLICEMEN DEPLOYED AS ESTRADA TRIAL RESUMES: As many as 3,000
policemen will be deployed at the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center in
Quezon City and the way leading to the Sandiganbayan as mass actions are
expected to greet the resumption of the plunder trial against former
president Joseph Estrada.
The question is whether Estrada will be bodily carried to the Sandiganbayan
if he refuses to attend the resumption of his trial Friday.
Ombudsman Aniano Desierto said Thursday "his (Estrada's) physical presence
is very important" because the court would not be able to proceed with the
arraignment in his absence.
President Macapagal-Arroyo's spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao said bodily
carrying Estrada from his suite at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center to
the court was not a remote prospect.
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Wednesday that he was opposed to the
idea of having a recalcitrant Estrada bodily carried to court. On Thursday
he said government officials had yet to agree on what action to take should
the ex-President refuse to attend the trial.
"So far, the instruction (for the police) is that no force should be used,"
Perez said. "If the former President would like to violate the order of the
Sandiganbayan, then we will report it to the (court)."
The anti-graft court had earlier ordered Estrada to be present at all his
hearings.
Perez said he would be "on stand-by" Friday. "I shall be communicating with
the police and advise them on what to do," he said.
Estrada's spokesperson Raymond Fortun said the deposed leader would
definitely attend the 9 a.m. hearing, albeit without his original
nine-member defense team.
Asked if "theatrics" could be expected in court today, as what Malacanang
had been anticipating, Fortun said: "Let's see if what Tiglao claims to be
our script will really happen."
After two postponements, Estrada's arraignment for his second perjury case
is set to open Friday's proceedings.
The court will also hold its second hearing on his Nov. 10 request to
undergo knee surgery in the United States, as well as start pre-trial
proceedings on another case involving illegal use of an alias.
Renato Bocar, spokesperson of the Sandiganbayan special division, said the
justices were expected to address Friday issues arising from Estrada's
rejection of his appointed lawyers.
Another issue up for deliberation is the state prosecutors' clamor for the
court to act on the contemptuous statements made in the media by former
Estrada lawyers, particularly Fortun and Rene Saguisag, Bocar said.
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 March 2002
GMA: NO DILEMMA OVER ERAP'S EXILE: President Arroyo is not in a dilemma
over suggestions to allow jailed former President Joseph Estrada to go into
exile because it is not allowed by the country's penal system.
Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao made the clarification amid reports
that the Chief Executive was in a quandary whether to banish the former
president to gain some "peace and quiet" during her term in office.
"The President's stand is very clear. Exile is not in our penal code. It's
not in any of our laws. It's not allowed," Tiglao said, stressing that Mrs.
Arroyo does not even want to meddle in Estrada's cases before the
anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.
He said Malacanang will stick by the rule of law even if some of its allies
in Congress are considering the issue of exile for Estrada as a political
matter.
He said Mrs. Arroyo, in deference to the principle of separation of powers
among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, is
determined to leave the matter to the Sandiganbayan.
Philippine Star, 11 March 2002
OPPOSITION ASKS GMA TO INTERVENE IN ESTRADA 'CRISIS': Three opposition
leaders called on President Arroyo yesterday to avert a political crisis by
intervening in the Estrada trial through the prosecution panel.
Opposition and pro-administration senators clashed yesterday over moves to
avert what was described as "a gathering political crisis" arising from
deposed President Joseph Estrada's dismissal of his defense lawyers and his
bid to be allowed to seek medical treatment in the US.
Three opposition senators - Blas Ople, Edgardo Angara Jr. and Aquilino
Pimentel Jr. - strongly recommended presidential intervention.
Ople said Mrs. Arroyo could instruct the government prosecutors from the
Department of Justice not to block a pending petition of the defense panel
to allow Mr. Estrada to travel to the United States for knee surgery.
While proposing this as one backroom agreement, Ople said the President
could also direct the prosecution to allow due course to a petition by the
defense lawyers for a raffle to determine the judges who would conduct the
Estrada trial.
Ople said this would be better than arbitrarily naming a special court or
division to try Estrada's cases.
The senator added the prosecutors could also give way to a review of the
trial schedules, which had been unreasonably fixed at three times a week to
the detriment of the defense lawyers who have professional commitments to
other clients.
Angara, for his part, bared they were negotiating with "key players" in
Philippine society to muster support for the specific proposals which they
hoped would defuse political tension stemming from Estrada's trial. Angara
did not name these "key players."
On the other hand, Senate President Franklin Drilon and pro-administration
Senators Joker Arroyo, Renato Cayetano and Ramon Magsaysay maintained that
Malacanang should not intervene in the cases of Estrada to avoid undue
political pressure on the members of the court. They also felt that
back-channel negotiations would be tantamount to intervention in the
judicial process.
Cayetano explained that back-channel negotiations could be hazy and could
undermine the independence of the judiciary.
The objectives and the parameters of the backroom deals should be laid out,
he said, since it is improper to intrude into the affairs of the judiciary.
Magsaysay said it would be better for Malacanang not to be involved as the
move by senators and members of the House to support the medical treatment
of Estrada in the US had been stained by political developments.
Rep. Satur Ocampo (party-list, Bayan Muna) said this was the only
conclusion the organization he represents could make from the so-called
"parliamentary diplomacy" initiative of Estrada's allies in the Senate.
Another Bayan Muna lawmaker, militant labor leader Crispin Beltran, said a
"compromise (leading to exile) is in the offing" between Estrada and
President Arroyo. Exile would be the "softest and most convenient option
for the Arroyo government, and one the opposition has been lobbying for,"
he said.
The watchdog PlunderWatch expressed fears that the Arroyo administration,
through De Venecia, was already seeking ways to ship Estrada out of the
country even before the cases against him are resolved.
"Before we even consider allowing Estrada to leave the country, we should
first make sure he gets the verdict he deserves," said PlunderWatch
spokesman Fr. Joe Dizon.
Philippine Star, 9 March 2002
4 POLITICAL LEADERS MEET ON WAYS TO SOLVE ESTRADA CRISIS: Four senior
political leaders met Thursday to find ways of getting the Sandiganbayan
anti-graft court to allow ousted president Joseph Estrada to seek medical
help abroad "without necessarily creating ripples of discontent or
disagreement."
A Senate source said the leaders may also "ask Malacanang to intervene."
The meeting came as authors of a House of Representatives resolution
seeking to send Estrada into exile decided not to file it.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia and former Senate presidents Edgardo Angara,
Blas Ople and Aquilino Pimentel agreed at the Manila Hotel meeting "to
adopt back-channel methods" to help avert a political crisis.
The crisis was spawned by Estrada's decision on Feb. 27 to dismiss his
lawyers, saying he expected no justice from the courts.
His supporters have warned of another uprising if he is barred from leaving
for knee surgery in the United States - from which, his critics say, he may
not return or exile.
The police recently said Estrada's supporters were "mobilizing" again,
although advisers of Presidential Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo say the
"recruitment" efforts particularly in Metro Manila poorest districts, have
had little success.
A resolution in the House seeking Estrada's medical treatment in the US at
one time gathered 136 signatures and its counterpart in the Senate, 19. But
many legislators began withdrawing their support from the resolutions after
the Philippines' Roman Catholic leader, Cardinal Jaime Sin, called the
proposal "stupid". More legislators withdrew their signatures after Estrada
fired his lawyers.
Malacanang has rejected calls for sending Estrada into exile.
De Venecia said the meeting was an "informal initiative (on their part) to
see how we can help both sides resolve the crisis."
Ople told Senate reporters that the group "agreed to explore parliamentary
diplomacy to facilitate the healing process."
Senate President Franklin Drilon was invited to the meeting but was not
there.
Ople refused to discuss the details of the reconciliation initiative
because of "the sensitive issues involved."
Angara said he and Pimentel would later get in touch with their colleagues
in the Senate opposition bloc to "finalize the proposal and put the package
before decision makers."
In the House of Representatives, Lanao del Sur congressman Benasing
Macarambon said he and eight co-authors of the resolution seeking to send
Estrada into exile abandoned the proposal "in deference" to Estrada's
refusal to be an exile.
Macarambon denied Malacanang and House officials pressured him into
withdrawing the resolution authored by pro-administration congressmen.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 8 March 2002
ESTRADA REFUSES TO TURN OVER TRIAL PAPERS TO NEW LAWYERS: Former President
Joseph Estrada Tuesday refused to turn over documents and other material
related to his defense to "any and all" lawyers appointed by the
Sandiganbayan.
In a letter dated March 4, Estrada instructed his nine dismissed lawyers
not to yield "records, evidence and other similar documents and matters" to
their successors.
He also asked them not to cooperate with any court-appointed counsel
without his consent.
The special division of the anti-graft court handling the Estrada cases had
ordered the turnover on Friday, when it approved the withdrawal of the nine
lawyers and appointed six de officio counsels from the Public Attorneys
Office and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
Estrada's refusal to comply with the order complicates the historic plunder
trial, the first-ever against a former president, and three other criminal
cases.
In his letter, Estrada invoked Canon 21 of the lawyers' Code of
Professional Responsibility, under which counsel are "bound . . . from
revealing any confidences or secrets unless authorized by (the) client." He
also cited Rule 22.02 of the same code, which specifies that "the turnover
of all papers and property upon (counsel's) withdrawal should be to the
client."
On Monday, Estrada formally rejected the services of Sigfrid Fortun, one of
the two IBP lawyers appointed by the court. His spokesperson and former
lawyer Raymond Fortun, Sigfrid's younger brother, also said the former
President would not recognize the four court-appointed PAO lawyers.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 6 March 2002
ANTI-GRAFT COURT WARNS ESTRADA OF CONTEMPT: A Sandiganbayan spokesperson
Monday warned deposed president Joseph Estrada and his former lawyers they
were courting a citation for "indirect contempt" for repeatedly attacking
the credibility of the anti-graft court.
Renato Bocar, legal division chief and spokesperson for the special
division hearing the Estrada cases, expressed frustration over the behavior
of Estrada and his counsel. "They are getting away with it even if their
statements can be cited for contempt of court," he told reporters.
But the special division cannot act on the matter unless state prosecutors
led by Ombudsman Aniano Desierto file a manifestation "citing the
violations," Bocar added.
Desierto said he would file just such a motion this Tuesday, seeking to
stop Estrada from further issuing statements against the Sandiganbayan.
Estrada should desist "from issuing statements which would tend to erode
the people's confidence in the judiciary," Desierto said.
The motion will also claim that Estrada had violated the sub judice rule,
he added.
A Sandiganbayan official, who requested anonymity, disclosed that the
justices handling the Estrada cases were now in favor of live media
coverage of the hearings. The justices now see such an arrangement as
necessary, the official said, so that the public can see for itself how
fair the court is in handling the historic cases, which includes the
first-ever plunder trial of a former president.
Bocar hinted that the special division was eager to respond to Estrada's
allegations that the Sandiganbayan was railroading the process. "There will
be something coming" once the prosecution files a motion initiating
contempt proceedings, he said. "Many points will be raised in the
resolution that will be issued."
But former Senate president Jovito Salonga, a legal luminary who has
written influential textbooks on evidence, said Estrada's "repeated
assaults" on the special division and the Supreme Court which created it
were "baseless and unfair".
When told of Bocar's statements, former Estrada lawyer Raymond Fortun
merely said, "We'll see, we'll see."
Fortun dared the prosecution to cite specific contemptuous comments, "for
if their ground will be based on sub judice statements, we might initiate
the same proceedings against them for similar violations."
In media interviews and at various forums since last week, Estrada and his
erstwhile lawyers accused the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court of bias
in their handling of the ex-president's four criminal cases.
Their complaints stem from the high court's creation in January of a
special division in the Sandiganbayan to try the Estrada cases, the
anti-graft court's order to hold hearings thrice a week, and the high
tribunal's recent denial of the motion for bail of Estrada's co-accused
son, Jinggoy.
Only last Friday, Fortun found himself apologizing to the court for a
remark he made on radio. Associate Justice Teresita de Castro, a member of
the special division, said she had heard Fortun say: "May those justices be
struck by lightning."
An anti-crime group said Monday it would ask the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines to investigate Estrada's nine lawyers who withdrew from his
plunder case last week.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) accused Estrada's
lawyers of "conspiring to make a mockery of our justice system and creating
a crisis situation and possible rebellion."
In a phone interview, VACC chair Dante Jimenez said Estrada's former
lawyers had a "moral duty" to continue with their case and, if they
resigned, to help their successor lawyers.
As arguments raged over Estrada's court cases, the administration of
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo doused water on calls to let him go on
exile in another country.
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Monday that allowing the jailed
ex-president to leave the country "is not within the ambit of the law."
He added it was the policy of the Macapagal administration not to interfere
with the independence of a co-equal branch of government, such as the
judiciary.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 5 March 2002
