Estrada's Impeachment & MILF Deflection
Diigo, November 3, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sayyaf leaders in JI hold list,
Diigo, November 3, 2000, The Philippine Star, Trader shot in Munti, by Rainier Allan Ronda,
Diigo, November 4, 2000, The Philippine Star, Seniang leaves 26 dead, 13 missing, by Paolo Romero,
Diigo, November 4, 2000, The Philippine Star, Shadowy AFP group wants Estrada to quit,
Diigo, November 5, 2000, The Philippine Star, 26 Sayyaf rebels surrender in Sulu, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Opposition aiming for 150 impeachment rap signatories, by Jess Diaz,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, 5 soldiers wounded in Lanao Sur attack, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Central Mindanao officials fear surge in kidnaps, by John Unson,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Senate not ready for impeachment, by Rep. Joker Arroyo,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Senate to stop probe for impeach moves, by Perseus Echeminada,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Rallyists at EDSA paid -- Estrada, by Paolo Romero,
Diigo, November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, I have no regrets serving Estrada Banayo, by Paolo Romero
Diigo, November 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, 11 Davao political parties forge united opposition, by Edith Regalado,
Diigo, November 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, 13 Moro rebels killed in Lanao Norte clash,
Diigo, November 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, Majority of Socsargen lawyers want Estrada to quit or be impeached, by Allen Estabillo,
Diigo, November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, "Pinoy diver may have joined Sayyaf", by Roel Pareno and Paolo Romero,
Diigo, November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada allies plotting to block impeachment, by Jess Diaz,
Diigo, November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, Political scandals not a monopoly of Estrada -- Enrile, by Perseus Echeminada,
Diigo, November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, Joma prods Arroyo: No compromise with Estrada, by Benjie Villa,
Diigo, November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Heavy losses force Estrada pal to close down Davao hotel, by Edith R. Regalado,
Diigo, November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Anti-Estrada groups draft M'danao dev't agenda, by Edith Regalado,
Diigo, November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Reconciliation not resignation Estrada,
Diigo, November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sayyaf camp seized, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, Effigy of "Asiong Salonga" torched in Pampanga rally, by Ding Cervantes,
Diigo, November 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, 500 mayors sign manifesto of support for Estrada, by Cecille Suerte Felipe,
Diigo, November 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada admits aide got P200 M from Chavit, by Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, November 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Hundreds of families flee MILF attacks Upi town, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Lawyers shocked by Estrada's admission, by Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, November 12, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF attacks buses 1 dead 16 hurt, by John Unson,
Diigo, November 12, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF GRP peace talks may be stalled anew, by John Unson,
Diigo, November 13, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada insists he did not accept P200-M bribe from Chavit,
Diigo, November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sabaya's group sighted with Schilling, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, 11 dead 6 wounded in MILF attacks, by John Unson and Allen Estabillo,
Diigo, November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Drilon ousted in Senate coup, by Efren Danao,
Diigo, November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada Impeached, by Jess Diaz,
Diigo, November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada knew about millions Serapio, by Perseus Echeminada,
Diigo, November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Stocks fall sharply as investors await results of impeachment move,
Diigo, November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, RP, US panels finalize report on military aid, by Paolo Romero
Diigo, November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Moro rebels abduct 6 in Basilan village, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Day of protest presses Estrada's ouster,
Diigo, November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada’s impeachment trial starts December,
Diigo, November 16, 2000, The Philippine Star, 7 Sayyaf rebels killed,
Diigo, November 16, 2000, The Philippine Star, OIC to government MILF Stop hostilities pursue peace negotiations,
Diigo, November 16, 2000, The Philippine Star, Trader gunned down, by John Unson,
Diigo, November 17, 2000, The Philippine Star, Seizure of Sayyaf properties mulled; 3 more die in clash,
Diigo, November 17, 2000, The Philippine Star, Nur lashes at OIC s RP mission, by Aurea Calica,
Diigo, November 17, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada to face new witnesses evidence,
Diigo, November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, 8 Sayyaf rebels slain,
Diigo, November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, Anti-Estrada rallyists clash with Subic guards,
Diigo, November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF fugitives gird for attacks,
Diigo, November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, Safeguards eyed for ceasefire with MILF,
Diigo, November 20, 2000, The Philippine Star, GMA set to kick off Mindanao drive vs Estrada, by Edith Regalado,
Diigo, November 21, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military ultimatum forces Sayyaf to free tutor, 2 kids,
Diigo, November 21, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada There is no evidence to convict me, by Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, November 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, 2 Sayyaf leaders sighted, by Roel Pareño,
*Diigo, November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sayyaf kidnaps ex-MILF leader,
Diigo, November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada to seek dismissal of impeachment case on technicalities, by Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada unlikely to meet soon with Salamat Zamora, by John Unson,
Diigo, November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Failure of elections feared if Congress fails to OK budget, by Sandy Araneta,
Diigo, November 24, 2000, The Philippine Star, Shadowy AFP group wants Estrada to quit, by Paolo Romero,
Diigo, November 24, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abducted merchant feared dead, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, November 25, 2000, The Philippine Star, "Mad man" arrested in Palace bomb try, by Paolo Romero
Diigo, November 26, 2000, The Philippine Star, Rallies hurting economy Estrada, by Paolo Romero
Diigo, November 27, 2000, The Philippine Star, Scores killed as soldiers retake MILF camp, by Roel Pareño, John Unson,
Diigo, November 27, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada assures military of full support, by Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude,
Diigo, November 28, 2000, The Philippine Star, Erap denies hand in Dacer's disappearance,
Diigo, November 28, 2000, The Philippine Star, Sin renews call for Estrada to quit, by Sandy Araneta,
Diigo, November 30, 2000, The Philippine Star, Palace We're not fomenting class war, by Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, November 30, 2000, The Philippine Star, Soldiers overrun MILF complex in Maguindanao,
Diigo, December 1, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military: Drive vs Abu Sayyaf to go on during Ramadan, by Roel Pareno,
Diigo, December 1, 2000, The Philippine Star, Body of doctor kidnapped in Quezon City found in Laguna canal, by Rene Alviar
Diigo, December 2, 2000, The Philippine Star, Government declares holiday ceasefire with NPA, MILF,
Diigo, December 2, 2000, The Philippine Star, Cabinet men warn against civil disobedience campaign,
Diigo, December 5, 2000, The Philippine Star, Another Palace attack Gloria, by Liberty Dones and Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, December 5, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF waylays Cotabato farmers, by John Unson,
Diigo, December 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF calls surrender of 600 men propaganda,
Diigo, December 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Government officials ink pact on South's development, by Rey Arquiza,
Diigo, December 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, God gave Estrada to Filipinos, by Jess Diaz,
Diigo, December 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military officer sowing dissension in ranks Aguirre, by Paolo Romero,
Diigo, December 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, Prosecutors to present 54 witnesses, by Perseus Echeminada,
Diigo, December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, German mag dared to substantiate rap, by Paolo Romero,
Diigo, December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Even in Islam Estrada won't find moral solace, by Ding Cervantes,
Diigo, December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Government signs peace pact with ABB, by Antonieta Lopez,
Diigo, December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Muslim groups pray for Estrada ouster nightly,
Diigo, December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Cory Luisita probe a retaliation, by Ding Cervantes,
Diigo, December 12, 2000, The Philippine Star Editorial, Where are the Abu Sayyaf terrorists?,
Diigo, December 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Op-Ed, Suddenly, Erap needs Abu Sayyaf to clear him, by Federico D. Pascual,
Diigo, December 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Editorial, Guarding against dirty money,
Diigo, December 17, 2000, The Philippine Star, Senators must decide if they are only judges, by Federico D. Pascual,
Diigo, December 18, 2000, The Philippine Star, ARMM sectors decry absence of Nur led Ramadan festivities, by John Unson,
Diigo, December 18, 2000, The Philippine Star, Rebs step up taxation for CPP anniversary, by Charlie Lagasca,
Diigo, December 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, 'No more hostage talks with Sayyaf' Palace says,
Diigo, December 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada critics in military, police receive threats, by Paolo Romero,
Diigo, December 20, 2000, The Philippine Star, 7 Abu Sayyaf Men Killed in Clashes, by Roel Pareño,
Diigo, December 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, Reyes denies military intel agents monitoring Espinosa,
Diigo, December 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, No more libel suit vs Der Spiegel? by Marichu Villanueva,
Diigo, December 26, 2000, The Philippine Star, Captive cop, soldier joining communist rebs in attacks?
Diigo, December 28, 2000, The Philippine Star, Another NPA-RHB clash leaves 5 dead, by Ding Cervantes,
November 3, 2000, The Philippine Star, Trader shot in Munti, by Rainier Allan Ronda,
A 31-year-old businessman was gunned down while drinking with friends outside his sari-sari store in Muntinlupa city late Wednesday night.
Dead on arrival at the Muntinlupa Medical Center was Christelo Barrera, married, of 183 T. Molina St., Purok 6, Barangay Alabang. He sustained a gunshot wound in the chin that resulted in his death. The still unidentified gunman escaped.
Investigation showed the incident occurred at about 10:30 p.m. in front of Barrera’s store in front of his house.
Before the incident, it was learned that Barrera and his brother Manny almost came to blows with the assailant following a dispute in a nearby billiard hall.
The dispute arose when Manny, who owned the billiard hall, accidentally hit the gunman with a cue stick while making a shot.
Unknown to the Barreras, the man went for his caliber .45 pistol and followed them to the store where he shot the victim. -- Rainier Allan Ronda
November 4, 2000, The Philippine Star, Seniang leaves 26 dead, 13 missing, by Paolo Romero,
At least 26 people were killed and 13 others missing after Typhoon "Seniang" barreled through Metro Manila and Northern Luzon at dawn yesterday.
Packing winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour, Seniang toppled trees and cut power, triggering landslides and flooding many areas as it traveled at 19 kph toward the South China Sea.
Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora told reporters yesterday government offices were closed following heavy rains and floods.
"It's storm signal No. 3," he said. "Government offices are closed, except for those involved in relief operations."
On the other hand, Jose Cervantes, Philippine Stock Exchange senior vice president, told reporters trading could not take place as the storm signal had been raised to No. 3, the highest level of a three-step storm alert.
Foreign and domestic flights resumed yesterday after heavy rains and strong winds battered Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon.
Earlier, Philippine Airlines canceled 39 flights, including those to four regional points, because of the typhoon. Two incoming flights from the United States were diverted to Hong Kong.
Cebu Pacific announced that its flight schedules would return to normal today after the disruption caused by Seniang yesterday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported late yesterday that Seniang had slowed down after crossing Bataan on the way to the South China Sea.
As of yesterday morning, Storm Signal No. 3 was in effect over Bataan, Zambales and Lubang island, while Signal No. 2 was in effect over Metro Manila, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac and western Pangasinan.
Weathermen said Southern Tagalog, Northern Visayas and Northern Luzon will have rains and gusty winds with moderate to rough seas today, while the rest of the country will be cloudy with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.
As of 2 p.m. yesterday, the following areas still had no electricity: Quezon, Caloocan and Valenzuela cities; the towns of Meycauayan and Bocaue in Bulacan, and North Luzon Expressway.
Pedro Co, systems operations head of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), said Manila is still 50 percent without power, while Paranaque, Las Piñas and parts of Laguna are 31 percent without electricity.
Co said Meralco hopes to restore power in its entire franchise area within the weekend, and that they are still assessing the total damage to their system
Priority areas are hospitals, government installations, the Light Rail Transit system, and the Metro Rail Transit system, he added.
On the other hand, Rolando Bacani, National Power Corp. vice president for systems operations, reported that all its transmission and power system were fully operational except the Gumaca-Labo line in Bicol.
Bacani said a technical fault in the system has affected the Gumaca area, and that only 1,400 megawatts of electricity is being used in the Luzon Grid as of 3 p.m. yesterday.
In Manila, Coast Guard frogmen were still combing the waters off South Harbor in search for the missing crewmen of a training ship which sunk at the height Seniang's fury yesterday morning.
Taken to the Ospital ng Maynila were the ship's captain, Diosdado Menida, 53, radio operator Jonathan Santos, 30, deck officer Christopher Soriano, 33, and cadets Sherwin Donido, Eddie Maritano, and Pedro Heneroso.
In Laguna, Gov. Joey Lina told reporters yesterday among the fatalities were four mountain climbers who drowned while trying to cross a swollen river in the province.
Lina said the victims were part of of a group of more than 100 climbers still trapped by the river, and that soldiers and police have been sent to rescue the group.
Lina said three people, including two children, were killed in a landslide and two others drowned in a river in Siniloan town.
Three others were reported missing after a tricycle they were riding fell into a river when a bridge collapsed while they were trying to cross to the other side, he added.
In Makati City, two men were reported to have drowned in the Pateros-Taguig River in Barangay Pembo. One of them was identified as Rod Magubat.
In Antipolo City, nine people, including three children were killed in landslides in separate incidents during a downpour in Barangay Bagong Nayon,
Killed were Bong Marcadia, 28; Karen Pisino, Jessie Dazo, 14; siblings Jerry, 10 and Jaquelyn Gardon, 14; a certain Kris, siblings Evelyn 3, and Saralyn Ganotiba, 4, and one Aling Rosa.
In Angono, Rizal, three unidentified people drowned after they were washed away by rampaging waters while crossing the Pasong Tamo Bridge.
In Pangasinan, police said the body of a retired colonel was fished out of a creek in Barangay Sinabaan in Bautista town on Wednesday night.
The fatality was identified as Jesus Frias, 65, a resident of Barangay Bongto East in Bayambang town.
Police said Frias was last seen last Tuesday while crossing the deep portion of the creek at the height of the fury of Typhoon "Reming."
In Tuguegarao City, a nine-year-old boy drowned while two others were reported missing after the ferry they were riding capsized on the Pinacanuan River in Penablanca yesterday morning
Police identified the fatality as Reymart Pataguan of Barangay Minanga, Penablanca. The two missing persons remain unidentified.
Four other people drowned in another town in Cagayan and also another in Nueva Vizcaya, while landslides killed one person in Isabela and another in Nueva Vizcaya.
In Marikina City, a man was killed when a small radio transmitter tower collapsed on his home, impaling him and injuring his eight-year-old daughter.
In Manila Bay, reports said at least seven barges and one tanker anchored off the breakwater were battered by strong winds.
Powerful winds and big waves slammed at least seven barges into a seawall along Manila Bay.
DOH assures public of medicine supply
Health Secretary Alfredo Romualdez assured the public yesterday of ample medicine and other supplies for distribution to the various evacuation centers.
Romualdez said they have no problem providing assistance to the different regions affected by Seniang, except in the Bicol Region where supplies have been used when Typhoon "Reming" hit the country.
However, Romualdez said the health department office in Bicol was able to get supplies from various hospitals in the region so its operations would not be affected.
Romualdez warned the public against wading in floodwaters which may be contaminated with the urine of rats infected with leptospira bacteria.
He said heaps of uncollected garbage washed away by floods also add to the risk of acquiring leptospirosis, gastro-intestinal diseases and respiratory tract infections.
Romualdez said respiratory tract infections can become prevalent in evacuation centers because of possible overcrowding.
In Pasig City, Mayor Vicente Eusebio ordered the immediate distribution of relief goods and the giving of medical services to residents of flood-stricken areas.
Eusebio said a total of 1,724 families or 10,203 people have been brought to the 27 evacuation centers scattered throughout the city as of 2 p.m. yesterday.
In Manila, floodwaters submerged Old St. Mesa and Bacood streets in Sta. Mesa; Nagtahan and J. P. Laurel streets, and Ramon Magsaysay Avenue in San Miguel district; Arsenio Lacson, Pureza, Altura, Espana, C.M. Recto, and Nicanor Reyes in Sampaloc; T. M. Kalaw street and United Nations Avenue in Ermita; Sergio Osmena Avenue in San Andres; and Tayuman and Abad Santos streets in Sta. Cruz.
The underpass along Quezon Blvd. and Lagusnilad in front of City Hall were also underwater and impassable to vehicular traffic yesterday.
Civil defense officials said more than 1,100 people were evacuated because of flooding in Taguig, Metro Manila and four provinces east of the metropolis.
In Malabon, the Tullahan River overflowed and spilled over to the Tullahan Bridge, causing it to become impassable to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Joel Lacsamana of Manila Water Services Inc. warned residents near the Tullahan River that the water level of La Mesa Dam has risen to 79.46 meters.
In Muntinlupa, 71 families were displaced from their homes in Barangay Cupang; 63 in Barangay Calzada/Tipas and 33 in Barangay Sta. Ana in Taguig; 20 in Tondo, Manila; 10 in Barangay Sta. Monica/Damalay in Novaliches; and three families in Barangay Napindan in Quezon City.
In Caloocan City, the concrete wall of a gasoline station along Rizal Avenue yesterday because of strong winds, damaging at least nine vehicles. However, no one was injured.
Dagat-Dagatan was the most affected area in Caloocan, as floods prevented vehicles with connecting routes in and out of the city from moving.
Another 1,300 people were reportedly stranded in a port in Matnog, Sorsogon because ferries were not allowed to leave port.
In Albay, heavy rains caused mudflows from the slopes of Mayon Volcano to cascade down Barangays Pandang, Pawa and Mabini in Legazpi City yesterday. -- With reports from Felix de los Santos, Cesar Ramirez, Celso Amo, Mike Frialde, Ted Torres, Marvin Sy, Matthew Estabillo, Ella Oducayen, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Pia Lee-Brago, Rainier Allan Ronda, Charlie Lagasca, Rey Arquiza, Sheila Crisostomo, Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Romel Bagares, AP, AFP
November 24, 2000, The Philippine Star, Shadowy AFP group wants Estrada to quit, by Paolo Romero,
There's a shadowy group of retired military and police officers who have joined the call for President Estrada's resignation.
Calling themselves "Reveille" (which means wake-up call in French), members of a group claiming to be comprised of retired military and police officers are circulating a manifesto in Camp Aguinaldo, urging active officers of the Armed Forces to force Mr. Estrada to step down.
The manifesto is addressed to Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Panfilo Lacson.
"Help us in our quest for President Estrada to resign!" read the manifesto. "Help us restore decency in the Presidency. The Presidency is not a reformatory school. Help us restore our respected place in the community of nations. Help us regain our declining economy which we have considerably lost."
Members of "Reveille" called on soldiers and policemen to "allow the people's voice to prevail," and to remain neutral and not to allow the administration to use them in the present political crisis.
"We appeal to you to respect the democratic rights of our people to undertake these gigantic mass actions against the corrupt Estrada presidency," read the manifesto. "The time has come to effect the change, our people have spoken, these they now translate into the parliament of the streets to be heard loud and clear."
In another development, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado has asked Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero to investigate and possibly prosecute retired Lt. Gen. Fortunato Abat after he called on other active military officers to force the President to resign.
"(Abat's action) is clearly an incitement for the active members of the AFP to take action against the President to pressure him to resign," he said.
Abat has rejected Mr. Estrada's request that he shut up and vowed to continue expressing his views on issues which he believes are of national concern.
"As much as ordinary citizens have the right to publicly express their views, we the retired generals also have this right to do the same," he said.
Abat was a former commander of the Army, and he was secretary of national defense under the administration of former President Fidel Ramos, who is also a retired general.
Mercado said he had asked for the justice secretary's opinion on the "appropriate action that could be taken" against the people behind the manifesto.
"More particularly, we would like to request the DOJ to look into the criminal statutes that may have been violated by the persons responsible for this manifesto," he said.
Mercado told Tuquero that he had been holding dialogues with military officers and enlisted personnel in connection with the political crisis gripping the country.
"I have repeatedly enjoined the men and women of the AFP to respect the Constitution and leave the politicking to politicians," he said.
Mercado said the Armed Forces leadership has already declared its commitment to the Constitution and to respect the outcome of the impeachment trial of President Estrada.
At Camp Crame, the chief of the PNP Community Relations Group (CRG) has refused to obey an order of Lacson relieving him of his command.
Chief Superintendent Steven Cudal told reporters yesterday "some ranking PNP officials are capitalizing" on what he described as "trumped-up charges" against him, which are pending at the Sandiganbayan.
"I cannot accept this relief order," he said. " I will fight for my right. This is a complete denial of due process. I will ask the intervention of the court. I am lawyer and I know my law."
Lacson named Senior Superintendent Nelson Estares yesterday as officer-in-charge of the CRG, the unit which handles the PNP's public relations.
On another front, the chairman of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) cautioned Malacañang yesterday against belittling the influence of retired generals on military officers in the active service.
Retired Brig. Gen. Ernesto Gidaya, AGFO chairman, said he was superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy from 1972 to 1976.
"I've graduated four PMA classes and they are now in responsible positions," he said.
AGFO is comprised of 631 generals, more than one third of whom are still in active service in the Armed Forces and the PNP. -- With reports from Jaime Laude, Mayen Jaymalin, Delon Porcalla
November 5, 2000, The Philippine Star, 26 Sayyaf rebels surrender in Sulu, by Roel Pareño,
Twenty-six Abu Sayyaf bandits under the notorious Ghalib Andang and Mujib Susukan have surrendered to the military, military officials said yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, commander of the military forces pursuing the bandits, said the 26 gunmen gave themselves up Friday in Maimbung and Talipao towns in Sulu.
Their surrender brought the number of gunmen in military custody to 188, according to the military.
Andang, also known by his nom de guerre "Commander Robot," and Susukan had earlier reportedly sent surrender feelers but there was no sign of them.
Bandits who were captured earlier said Andang and Susukan wanted to surrender and were tired of fleeing from pursuing troops.
Susukan was reportedly seen crisscrossing the border of Indanan and Talipao, his Filipino hostage Roland Ullah in tow, trying to evade pursuing soldiers, said Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman for the military's Southern Command.
Meanwhile, an American hostage held by Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Asmad Salayuddi, also known as Abu Sabaya, was reportedly sighted in Patikul town, said Atendido.
Salayuddi and his followers were seen moving 24-year-old California native Jeffrey Schilling out of Luuk town. "We have received reports that they moved out of Luuk town and transferred to Patikul," Atendido said.
Ullah is among the 21 mostly Western captives snatched by Andang from a Malaysian dive resort of Sipadan in Sabah in April. Except for Ullah, all of the Sipadan hostages were released in batches through five months. Most of the hostages were reportedly released after huge ransom payments.
Schilling was taken hostage in August after visiting the Abu Sayyaf's camp. However, the military had suspected him of having links with the bandits who style themselves as Islamic independence fighters.
Schilling and Ullah are the remaining captives of a batch of 19 hostages held by the gunmen. -- With a report from AFP
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Opposition aiming for 150 impeachment rap signatories, by Jess Diaz,
Opposition congressmen who filed the impeachment complaint against President Estrada are now gunning for 150 signatures after gaining the support of half of the 218-member House of Representatives.
Assistant Minority Leader Michael Defensor (LP, Quezon City), one of the original 42 petitioners, said the complaint "passed the majority mark" with 110 signatures, making the precedent-setting impeachment of a Philippine president more certain.
"Based on the pledges we have received, we are now aiming for 150 signatures," Defensor said.
Under the Constitution, only 73 votes are required to send the impeachment petition to the Senate where the embattled President will face trial, with 16 votes needed for a conviction.
But Defensor said they want to get the overwhelming support of the House. "If we have these numbers, we can send out a message to Erap in big, bold letters: Mr. President, we want you fired," he said.
Among the latest signatories was Palawan Rep. Vicente Sandoval, formerly with the LAMP coalition.
"It is time to set aside party affiliations and look deep into our hearts where our conscience, our moral values, our people and our country stand," said Sandoval.
Sandoval's lawmaker-son, Federico Sandoval II, who represents Malabon-Navotas, was one of the complaint's original petitioners.
However, despite the wave of mass defections to the opposition, several pro-Estrada congressmen collectively known as the "Bright Boys" are sticking it out with the administration party.
"We will not abandon a wounded friend, not now, not ever. We will stay with him through thick and thin," Assistant Majority Leader Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela, who spoke for the group, said.
The other members of the group are Gilberto Teodoro of Tarlac, Francis Escudero of Sorsogon, Jesus Romualdo of Camiguin and Ace Durano of Cebu.
They have lost three members to the pro-impeachment ranks: Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig-Pateros, the youngest lawmaker, Edmundo Reyes Jr. of Marinduque and Juan Pablo Bondoc of Pampanga.
Albano said his group welcomes the opportunity for the President to fully answer the charges against him when the Senate opens trial.
"He remains innocent until proven otherwise in the trial. Until such time that a decision has been made, we should accord him the respect due a President," he said.
He also appealed to the remaining members of the Cabinet not to abandon Mr. Estrada at this time.
"As Cabinet members, they were sworn to help the President govern the nation. Abandoning him at a time when the nation is suffering economically would only aggravate the situation," Albano said.
LAMP congressmen sitting in the House justice committee, which will deliberate on the impeachment complaint, are expected today to make a last-ditch although futile stand.
Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, vice chairman of the committee and one of the 40 congressmen who resigned en masse from LAMP with Speaker Manuel Villar Jr., is expected to preside over the hearing.
Villar said lawmakers will consider today whether to "elevate" the complaint to the House plenary session.
"A group of lawyers is studying whether the impeachment motion can be immediately voted by the House to be raised to the Senate or whether it must still go through the committee on justice," Villar said.
Rodriguez said LAMP party members could still delay the process "but it is only a matter of time before the complaint is sent to the Senate."
To expedite the impeachment process, Rodriguez, a human rights lawyer, suggested that an amended complaint be filed with at least 73 signatures to comply with the minimum signature requirement as provided by the Constitution.
This was also the suggestion of Rep. Antonio Nachura of Western Samar, a member of a legal panel formed by House Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City) to study the constitutional and legal requirements of the impeachment process.
Rodriguez vowed that he would not let the new House majority bloc, composed of the old opposition and the defectors, muzzle LAMP congressmen -- the way they gagged Mr. Estrada's accuser, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, when he testified at the House last month.
For his part, Rep. Ernesto Herrera (Lakas, Bohol) urged senators to "stand their ground and see to it that a speedy and fair impeachment trial will take place."
"The economy is battered. The people are impatient. The Senate has to act swiftly and judiciously," said Herrera, a former senator.
Herrera opposed any compromise with Mr. Estrada. "If the President resigns or is removed from office through impeachment, he should face appropriate criminal charges in court.
"There is a moral issue here. Do we need a bargain for a graceful exit? I don't think so," he said.
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, 5 soldiers wounded in Lanao Sur attack, by Roel Pareño,
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has not let up in its attacks, wounding five soldiers, including a junior officer, in a gunbattle in Butig, Lanao del Sur last Saturday, the military said.
Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, said elements of the 29th Infantry Battalion were patrolling Camp Ali Ben Talib, a former MILF stronghold in Butig town, when they were attacked by the separatist guerrillas.
The wounded soldiers were identified as 2Lt. Reynaldo Romel, Cpl. Guillermo Gilane and Privates Eduardo Maranon, Artemio Flores and Christopher Abrego. Atendido said additional troops rushed to the scene and reinforced the beleaguered 29th IB elements, and engaged the rebels in a half-hour gunbattle.
Atendido said the MILF group suffered casualties. Earlier that day, elements of the 28th Infantry Battalion waylaid 10 MILF guerrillas in Malabang, Lanao del Sur, killing a rebel in a 20-minute firefight. Meanwhile, the military said 10 MILF fighters surrendered in Lumbayanague, Lanao del Sur, apparently after they could no longer bear the mounting military offensive.
A week ago, 10 rebels were killed and many others were wounded in a clash with Army Scout Rangers in the same province, Atendido said. In Sulu, mounting offensives by the military also prompted at least 11 Abu Sayyaf rebels to give themselves up the other day, the military said. Among the surrenderors were followers of Abu Sayyaf commander Patta Arola, who yielded to the 4th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Tubig-samin, Maimbung town before noon last Saturday. This, as soldiers seized two Tamaraw jeepneys, reportedly belonging to Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, in Talipao and Indanan towns, Atendido said.
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Central Mindanao officials fear surge in kidnaps, by John Unson,
COTABATO CITY – Kidnappings of wealthy residents of Central Mindanao are feared to escalate as next year's elections near. Elected officials and other leaders in two Maguindanao towns where Chinese traders were recently abducted, said they are aware that criminal elements supporting their rivals were behind the spate of kidnappings in their respective areas.
Since 1990, kidnappings in Central Mindanao have mounted during election periods, with some alleged notorious kidnappers even throwing their hats in the political arena. Among these alleged kidnappers was Musa Ali of Kabuntalan, Maguindanao, who repeatedly ran for councilor but lost.
Ali was gunned down by suspected government intelligence agents near the public market here last year, two years after he voluntarily turned himself in to then Interior and Local Government Secretary Robert Barbers.
Datu Tucao Mastura, former mayor of Sultan Kudarat town who is known for his tough stance against kidnappers, said the recent abductions of three Chinese residents in his town were probably meant to embarrass the leadership of the Mastura clan, who wields strong political clout in the area.
"These kidnappers could be aiming to discredit us, create the impression that we are weak leaders and are helpless in maintaining peace and order in our towns," Mastura said. Mastura was instrumental in working out the release, with the help of the Marine-led Mindanao Area 1 Unit here of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force and the Army's 6th Infantry Division, of kidnapping victims Al Vincent Uy, Vicente Yu and Michael Ang, who were separately snatched in different parts of the region.
Mastura, who has allegedly executed more than 20 kidnappers in Sultan Kudarat alone, claimed that most of the men behind the three abductions were associated with his political rivals. In Upi, a hinterland town in Maguindanao, local officials are convinced that last Wednesday's abduction of trader Arthur Yap in the area was meant to embarrass the leadership of the equally influential Sinsuat family. Yap was snatched from his house in the Upi town proper and dragged into a vehicle which lawmen later found abandoned in a secluded corn farm.
He was last seen being dragged by his kidnappers toward the boundary of Upi and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns, known bailiwicks of the Sinsuat family. Datu Michael Sinsuat, mayor of Upi and chairman of the municipal peace and order council, said Yap's abductors could have been hired by his political adversaries. He did not elaborate.
He conceded, however, that past kidnappings in Maguindanao were deliberately pulled off to raise funds for political purposes. "We have been receiving feedback that one of the purposes of these kidnappings is to raise campaign funds. We are puzzled why kidnappings escalate as elections near," Sinsuat said.
Army and police intelligence sources hinted that there, indeed, are some unscrupulous people who have used kidnappings to bankroll political campaigns. Kidnappings were pioneered here in 1990 by slain kidnap gang leader Abugado Bago alias "Commander Mubarak," who was tagged as the brains behind the abduction of 87 mostly Chinese traders in Central Mindanao.
Mubarak's group reportedly raked in some P200 million in ransom money during his reign of terror which ended with his death in a shootout with Marines on Dec. 7, 1992 in his hideout in Pantukan, Davao del Norte.
Sources from the local political and religious communities have confirmed that 22 people who belong to Mubarak's group are now elective officials in different towns in Central Mindanao and may still seek reelection next year.
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Senate not ready for impeachment, by Rep. Joker Arroyo,
The impeachment proceedings against President Estrada could be delayed considerably because the Senate, it turns out, does not have the "rules of procedure" that would govern the impeachment trial.
Unlike the House of Representatives, which had the foresight to adopt a "Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceeding" that it would follow, the Senate does not have any rule at all to guide it. What will the Senate do when it receives the articles of impeachment of the House of Representatives against the President? The Constitution says that with the House transmittal, "… trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed."
Yet the Senate cannot act on it because it does not have the rules to govern the proceedings. When it convenes on Nov. 13, the Senate will just start discussing the rules that it will follow for the Estrada impeachment.
The Constitution mandates that "Congress shall promulgate its rules on impeachment to carry out" the impeachment process. The House did, the Senate unfortunately did not. (The Senate was so busy with the jueteng hearings that it forgot that it had to have rules in the first place.)
To accelerate the impeachment trial in the absence of existing rules, the Senate may perhaps temporarily adopt the rules of the US Senate where the senators act like the jurors in a trial while the Chief Justice acts like the judge.
The senators, like jurors, do not ask questions directly. If a senator would like to ask a particular question, he could do so by coursing it through the Chief Justice who presides. That assures an orderly proceeding as exhibited in the televised Clinton trial before the US Senate. The senators did not argue or speak.
That protracted hearing was what motivated the 41 original signers of the impeachment complaint of the House when they strove and succeeded in obtaining the minimum requirement of 73 signatures. Now that they have done so and are poised to turn over the articles of impeachment to the Senate, what will the Senate do?
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Senate to stop probe for impeach moves, by Perseus Echeminada,
Once the articles of impeachment against President Estrada are filed in the Senate, the Blue Ribbon Committee will stop the jueteng hearings looking into the alleged involvement of the Chief Executive in illegal gambling.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., the committee's chairman, told The STAR yesterday the Senate is "duty bound" to discontinue the proceedings after the House of Representatives approves the articles of impeachment. "We have to respect the constitutional process," he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Gregorio Honasan warned that senators who took part in the jueteng hearings and in Saturday's rally at the EDSA Shrine may be disqualified as jurors if an impeachment trial is held at the Senate. Honasan said over radio yesterday Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona, and Sen. Raul Roco may have prejudged the case against Mr. Estrada when they called for his resignation during last Saturday's rally at the EDSA Shrine.
"Even those who actively participated in the Senate jueteng probe may also be asked to inhibit themselves," he said. Honasan said he did not ask questions about the President's alleged involvement in jueteng when he twice took part in the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings because he wanted to keep his independence as a juror in any impeachment trial.
Apart from Honasan, the other senators who did not directly or indirectly participate in the jueteng hearings are: Pimentel, Blas Ople, Vicente Sotto III, and Ramon Revilla. On the other hand, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile told The STAR yesterday the inhibition or disqualification of senators as jurors in any impeachment trial will be decided by the Senate as a body.
However, Enrile said the Senate has yet to adopt and approve the rules on proceedings to be followed after the Senate convenes the impeachment trial of the President. Under the Constitution, any impeachment complaint against the President must be filed with the House of Representatives, which, acting as prosecutor, will deliberate whether the Chief Executive should be tried. However, the articles of impeachment can be sent to the Senate, which will serve as the trial court, without any deliberations if the complaint is signed by 73 members of the House of Representatives.
When that happens, the Senate will assume jurisdiction over the impeachment case, with the senators acting as the jury, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the presiding judge. Last Friday, Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. and 45 other congressmen bolted the Lapian ng Masang Pilipino and signed the complaint, bolstering the number of legislators calling for President Estrada's impeachment.
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Rallyists at EDSA paid -- Estrada, by Paolo Romero,
President Estrada lashed out yesterday at the political opposition which called for his resignation during last Saturday's mammoth prayer-rally at the EDSA Shrine, saying the rallyists were paid by Makati-based business groups with vested interests.
In a radio interview, Mr. Estrada said the Makati-based businessmen have been making contributions to stage rallies and have been waging a "PR campaign where they conduct (destabilizing) operations through the Internet and through texting."
"They spent huge sums for the rally and I saw who contributed and they paid each rallyist P300. They must remember that I was elected by the people," Mr. Estrada said.
He said the prayer-rally was really a political rally because former President Corazon Aquino endorsed estranged Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the "soon-to-be president."
"I think what happened was not a prayer-rally but a political rally. They use the name of God but it was really politics. They are even fooling God," the President said.
He said he did not give much weight to the rally -- the largest against Mr. Estrada, with about 130,000 attending -- as it was a gathering of candidates who lost to him in the 1998 elections.
Ignoring warnings from the political opposition not to turn the jueteng scandal into a class war pitting the rich against the poor, the Chief Executive said the rally was organized by power-hungry social elites.
"Since I assumed the presidency they never stopped hitting me. Through newspapers owned by elitists, the black propaganda continued. They cannot believe I am President," he said, adding that he would identify the businessmen at the appropriate time.
Mr. Estrada vowed not to resign and said he would leave office only if impeached by Congress.
"I am ready to face all the allegations against me. I am just waiting for the constitutional process to move forward and there I will answer all the charges against me," the President said, referring to an imminent Senate trial.
"If they can prove that I am guilty according to the Constitution, that's the only time I will step down," the President said.
He chided the political opposition for pushing for his ouster instead of waiting for the constitutional process of impeachment to proceed, saying they were the same ones who opposed him for his plans to amend the charter early in his term.
"This time it is they who refuse to follow the Constitution. They must remember that I was overwhelmingly elected by the people," he said.
Mr. Estrada said the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations showing public support for him affirmed that he still enjoys popular support despite the clamor for his resignation.
Mr. Estrada will convene today the National Security Council (NSC) to discuss the political and economic crises besetting his administration -- with or without Aquino and Arroyo.
He has been trying to woo Aquino and Arroyo for talks. Aquino rejected the offer while Arroyo said she would only talk about a transfer of power.
He is expected to announce the replacements of former Trade Secretary Mar Roxas and political affairs adviser Angelito Banayo, who both resigned last week in the wake of the jueteng scandal.
The President's critic and predecessor, Fidel Ramos, is expected to attend the NSC despite the former president's support for the clamor for Mr. Estrada's resignation.
Ramos attended Saturday's prayer-cum-protest rally at the EDSA Shrine.
November 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, I have no regrets serving Estrada Banayo, by Paolo Romero,
"I have no regrets serving the President."
Breaking his silence since his resignation Friday, President Estrada's former political affairs adviser Angelito Banayo said the last two weeks were the most agonizing in his life.
"I wish beyond this we will still be friends. There was nothing personal at all here. When you are no longer effective, then it's time to go." He said he enjoyed a very close professional relationship with Mr. Estrada and was torn between deciding whether or not to stand by his boss. In the end, he decided to leave with a clear conscience.
Banayo maintained that he knew nothing about the corruption allegations hurled by former presidential drinking and gambling buddy Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.
"It's difficult defending the President if you don't have the complete picture. I was never part of his inner circle. I don't know personally the friends of the President; I just see them. So when Chavit made the charges, I didn't know about it," he said.
Banayo said there were instances where he felt his advice was ignored by the President and his other advisers.
One instance was Mr. Estrada's nationwide address last Monday promising reforms that was followed by a stony appearance of top military and police officials.
Banayo said he was telephoned by then Trade Secretary Mar Roxas who told him that he was needed at the Presidential Palace to draft a statement.
He learned about the plan to make the generals air their support for the President after Mr. Estrada's speech and vigorously opposed it.
"I suggested that Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado should be the one to make the statement because he is a civilian. Letting the generals speak there would send the wrong message," he recalled.
Since Mercado was then in Geneva for a conference, he suggested that Interior Secretary Alfredo Lim issue the statement. Lim would be flanked by Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes and Director General Panfilo Lacson, chief of the Philippine National Police.
As Banayo expected, the menacing appearance of rows of generals and police officials backfired and the political opposition took it as a threat of force.
The following day, Malacañang officials were busy trying to undo the damage.
Another incident, Banayo recalled, was last Thursday night when he urged Mr. Estrada to preempt the defection of Speaker Manuel Villar and several pro-administration congressmen.
He had learned from several congressmen close to Villar that the Speaker was bolting the administration LAMP coalition.
To blunt the defection, Banayo argued in a meeting at Malacañang that Mr. Estrada issue a statement saying that he was letting his partymates go to hasten the impeachment proceedings so the President could air his side in a Senate trial.
That way, Banayo explained, Villar's defection would make it appear that the Speaker had listened to the President. Banayo said he even had a speech drafted without Mr. Estrada's go signal.
However, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora, his brother Manny and LAMP Congressman Danilo Suarez, who were at the meeting, doubted that Villar could possibly bring with him 40 congressmen. At best, Villar could bring seven, the three insisted.
Suarez even showed a list of 143 congressmen who signed a House resolution supporting Mr. Estrada. Banayo said he estimated that Villar could take 15 congressmen with him.
"I said even if Villar would leave alone, that would have an impact because he is the fourth highest official of the land," Banayo said.
At it turned out, about 40 congressmen resigned en masse from the LAMP with Villar last Friday. It was a serious setback for Mr. Estrada who was earlier counting on the LAMP's majority in the House to kill the impeachment complaint.
Banayo said it was Zamora who suggested that a referendum be held to resolve the jueteng scandal by letting the people decide if Mr. Estrada should stay or go. Banayo said he opposed it because it required legislation and funding, which was a problem for the cash-strapped government.
As it turned out, Mr. Estrada suggested it anyway but the political opposition -- who wanted no less than his immediate resignation -- didn't bite.
Banayo also disclosed that he opposed a negotiated agreement between government-run corporation Duty Free Philippines and businessman Lucio Co, an alleged presidential crony.
It was agreed that Duty Free would lease its outlets in Laoag, Cebu, Clark and Davao for five years and P100 million monthly.
He said it violated an administrative order that stipulated that such contracts be bidded out. Banayo said Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta unilaterally revised the administrative order to suit the contract.
As general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority, from which he also resigned last Friday, Banayo said he refused to sign the agreement.
He feared that Co might use the outlets as fronts for his alleged smuggling activities. Banayo added that the outlets were actually losing money so he could not see how Co would be able to remit P100 million to Duty Free each month.
Banayo said it was during his last two weeks as political adviser that he realized that most of those who opposed his suggestions were either previously connected with the hated Marcos regime or never had any experience opposing a political leader in the streets.
"I was the only one, and Secretary Mercado, who knew how street parliamentarians worked," he said.
November 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, 11 Davao political parties forge united opposition, by Edith Regalado,
DAVAO CITY — Major political realignments have begun to shape up here as 11 political parties formed a united opposition to demand that President Estrada step down from office. Representatives of the 11 political parties signed yesterday a statement of unity, stating, "The nation now needs nothing less than moral and competent leadership. President Estrada, for the good of our nation and our people, we beg you, resign now!"
However, Irene Santiago, of Aksyon Demokratiko, the vice presidential running mate of Sen. Raul Roco in the 1998 elections, said, "We are united in as far as the common objective of getting Mr. Estrada out of office. But we have not tackled any other political agenda, especially pertaining to the local elections next year."
Aside from Aksyon Demokratiko, the other political parties which joined the united opposition included Lakas-NUCD, Kampi, Abanse! Pinay, Lakas ng Dabaw, PDP Davao, Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, Akbayan (Citizen's Aksyon Party), Alyansa sa Katawhan sa Dabaw and the Reporma- Davao del Norte chapter.
Davao City Mayor Benjamin de Guzman, who heads Alyansa sa Katawhan sa Dabaw, and Vice Mayor Luis Bongayan, who belongs to Reporma, were among those who spearheaded the united opposition. Former Rep. Prospero Nograles and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Luis Santos, of Lakas-NUCD and Kampi, respectively, also joined the coalition.
Nograles said the united opposition will meet with representatives of the Erap Resign Movement, a coalition of over 100 militant and non- government groups, to discuss the holding of joint massive protest actions to pressure Mr. Estrada to resign.
The movement earlier launched the so-called "Wednesday Habit," a march- rally to be staged every Wednesday until Mr. Estrada resigns. Meanwhile, Davao City councilor Wendel Avisado, project manager of the Davao Integrated Development Program (DIDP), said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has refused to issue the notice of cash allocation for about P75 million in additional funds that the President ordered for DIDP projects.
The DBM also refused to issue the notice of cash allocation for the P71.4 million in irrigation funds intended for Davao farms. The President approved the funding during a meeting of the Mindanao Coordinating Council here last August.
The P75 million was actually part of the P100 million which Mr. Estrada earlier had promised for DIDP. Some P25 million was previously released and used to jump-start the projects. In both instances, Avisado said the DBM claimed that funds were unavailable.
November 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, 13 Moro rebels killed in Lanao Norte clash,
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Army troops encountered about 100 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels on their way to attack an Army camp in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte early yesterday, setting off a brief clash that killed 13 guerrillas, military officials said.
The rebels were traveling on foot toward an Army battalion headquarters in Kauswagan town at dawn when soldiers spotted them four kilometers from the military camp, the officials said.
A 30-minute clash ensued, killing 13 of the separatist guerrillas, said Maj. Johnny Macanas, spokesman of the Army's 4th Infantry Division. The rebels were accompanied by three unidentified Caucasians who were apparently television journalists, Macanas said. He said there were no indications the foreigners were hurt in the clash.
The bodies of three rebels, along with three rifles, were recovered by the Army troops, he said. Macanas said they learned about the death of 10 other guerrillas after monitoring rebel conversations over two-way radios.
The rest of the rebels fled with the foreigners when troop reinforcements arrived, he said. The MILF is fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao. Officials said the rebels and government negotiators are nearing an agreement to resume peace talks, which were called off early this year when the military launched a crackdown on the rebels. — AP, Lino de la Cruz
November 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, Majority of Socsargen lawyers want Estrada to quit or be impeached, by Allen Estabillo,
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Majority of lawyers in South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos, which comprise the Socsargen area, believe that President Estrada has lost his mandate to lead the Filipino people and consequently, want his administration to end.
In a survey conducted by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)- Socsargen chapter, 47.5 percent of its more than 200 members want the President to resign, and 40 percent favor his impeachment, lawyer Gerard Mosquera, IBP chapter president, said.
Mosquera said only five percent want Mr. Estrada to remain in office until his term ends in 2004. This percentage though is even less than the number of those who abstained or refused to take a stand. Sixty percent of the IBP members believe that allegations on jueteng payoffs hurled by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson against Mr. Estrada, are true.
On the other hand, at least 35 percent want Singson to present more evidence to bolster his claims, while only five percent say the accusations are pure lies. On Estrada's repeated denials that he never received a single centavo from jueteng operators, 60 percent do not believe him, 35 percent refused to comment and only five percent think he is telling the truth.
Mosquera noted that the survey results show the conservative nature of lawyers. "Although the majority sentiment is for the Estrada presidency to end, a substantial number wants the problem to be settled through the legal or mandated constitutional processes," he said. He said some lawyers still want to abide by due process and to see clear evidence against Mr. Estrada.
But Mosquera said the IBP members believe that if Mr. Estrada is impeached, he could be charged with the crime of plunder which, under the Philippine law, is punishable by death. He said Singson's testimony that the President had used Ilocos Sur's P130-million share of tobacco excise taxes under Republic Act 7171 for his own benefit, qualifies the filing of plunder charges. "The money involved is more than P50 million. Under the law, if anybody unduly utilizes government money in excess of that amount, that will fall as a crime of plunder," he said. With the present "seemingly irreversible trend" going against the President, Mosquera said the best option for him is to resign and go for a negotiated settlement with the emerging political force led by Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
But he said such settlement can also prove useless if any citizen still wants him later charged with plunder. Singson, he said, could also be prosecuted criminally, being a principal by direct participation in the jueteng controversy. But he said the governor can apparently apply for a certain immunity as the "whistle blower," or turn state witness.
November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, "Pinoy diver may have joined Sayyaf", by Roel Pareno and Paolo Romero,
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- A Filipino dive master, the only remaining captive from the 21 mostly foreign hostages seized by the Abu Sayyaf from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan, may have joined the extremist group, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said yesterday.
Tan said he has received reports that the Abu Sayyaf has given Roland Ullah his freedom, but he refused to go.
"He might be experiencing the Stockholm syndrome," Tan said, referring to a condition where the captive sympathizes with his captors because of indoctrination.
Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Task Force Trident, said this complicates their efforts to rescue Ullah as well as American Jeffrey Craig Edward Schilling.
Earlier reports said Schilling, 24, a native of Oakland, California, USA, was helping the Abu Sayyaf in gun smuggling activities. He was taken hostage while visiting the group's camp in Patikul, Sulu last Aug. 28.
"The rescue of these two hostages are a little difficult because of the questionable circumstances," Abaya said.
He said Ullah reportedly manages to roam around without any Abu Sayyaf guard.
Sulu officials urged the military not to let up in its offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, noting that crimes in the province have decreased and loose firearms have been reduced because of the crackdown.
Abaya said the extremist group now has only 100 fighters, mostly hard-line-followers of Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, Mujib Susukan, Abu Sabaya and Khadafy Janjalani.
Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo said 15 more Abu Sayyaf members surrendered in Jolo, Sulu last Monday, bringing to 226 the total number of its members who have turned themselves in since the military launched its offensive last Sept. 16.
The 15 rebels surrendered to Task Group Bravo of the Joint Task Force Trident, which is in charge of the crackdown. They yielded one M-16 and three Garand rifles.
November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada allies plotting to block impeachment, by Jess Diaz,
Even as President Estrada prodded Congress yesterday to speed up the impeachment proceedings so he can clear his name, his allies in both chambers of the legislature are set to put up roadblocks to the process.
In public, the President strongly urged his partymates in the ruling Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) coalition to help speed up the impeachment process so he can face his accusers in the Senate trial of the case. At the same time, the President and his top political advisers have reportedly been plotting strategies that would swing the Senate vote in his favor.
Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. bared an alleged plan by the administration to bribe se-nators with P100 million each to make them vote against the President's conviction. The President's allies in the Senate are also bent on unseating Franklin Drilon as Senate president this Monday. Malacañang reportedly wants to replace Drilon, who bolted LAMP and joined calls for the President's re-signation, with Senate President Pro Tempore Blas Ople.
This "coup" will be ini- tiated by pro-administration Sen. John Osmeña, who said he wanted all positions in the Senate declared vacant when they resume session on Monday, ostensibly to determine the actual number of members of both the majority and minority blocs. At the House of Representatives, LAMP congressmen are still bent on unseating another coalition defector, Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. Opposition and ruling party sources told reporters yesterday that congressmen who remain loyal to Mr. Estrada will move for the reorganization of the House as the first order of the day on Monday.
The leadership issue will be raised as a "prejudicial question," meaning it should take precedence over all other matters. Sources said the Estrada allies would present a motion to declare all House positions, from the speakership down to committee membership, vacant. Meanwhile, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee conducting hearings on the jueteng scandal involving the President, filed a resolution seeking the adoption of rules of procedures and practice governing the impeachment process patterned after those of the United States Senate. "If the Senate is going to convict him, then I think it's duty-bund of his advisers to tell him not to go through the process anymore and go gracefully," Socio- Economic Planning Secretary Felipe Medalla said in a radio interview. "But the way it looks now, it doesn't seem that that's going to be the end result." The united opposition admitted that it has no recourse in case the impeachment bid fails.
Judging from the way lawmakers tangle even on a minor issue, the leadership question could entail interminable debates and take a few days to resolve, they said. Rep. Danilo Suarez (LAMP, Quezon), one of several friends of the President who are plotting to oust Villar, admitted that some members of his group are indeed planning to raise the leadership issue. "We will do that if we have the numbers to effect a leadership change. As of now, we don't have the numbers," he told reporters.
"Maraming kangaroo (There are so many kangaroos)," he said, referring to those abandoning the Estrada ship and jumping to the opposition to support the impeachment petition against the President. While Suarez admitted that they will try to shake the House leadership if they have the numbers, opposition congressmen expect some Estrada allies to move for declaring all House positions vacant regardless of which way the numerical factor goes.
"Some will try that, no doubt about it, just to delay the process. Voting alone on such a motion will cause some delay," said Assistant Minority Leader Hernani Braganza (Lakas, Pangasinan). He said the most effective way for the minority and Villar's group of independents to fight dilatory tactics and speed up the impeachment process would be to ensure that they have the majority on their side.
He said as of yesterday afternoon, the number of endorsers of the impeachment complaint has grown to 106, and many more have pledged their signatures. He admitted that the ruling party is wooing back with a lot of promises, including fund releases, those who plan to join the pro- impeachment camp.
Whether they succeed in ousting Villar or not, the President's allies could spring another surprise: moving for returning the impeachment complaint to the justice committee. The scenario would be more likely if the Palace allies succeed in installing a new House leader. Sources said if administration congressmen are able to remand the complaint to the justice committee, the panel will sit on it. That is where it will eventually be killed, they said.
Another assistant minority leader, Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental), appealed to his colleagues who remain loyal to the President not to delay the inevitable – that the House will eventually send the impeachment petition to the Senate and the Chief Executive will face trial.
He said the plot being hatched by Mr. Estrada's allies is not unexpected even while the President has been saying that he was eager to face a Senate trial so he could answer the charges against him. "Mr. Estrada's propensity for saying one thing and doing another should be obvious by now. Walang kamag-anak, walang kaibigan, 'yun pala, puro kamag-anak at puro kaibigan ang pinaboran (No relatives or friends, when it is all friends and relatives), he said.
He stressed that the minority and Villar's group have more than the minimum 73 votes to eventually send the impeachment complaint to the Senate. The opposition, led by Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City), and the Speaker's bloc of independents make up the core of the emerging majority in the House. They have gained control of the 51-member justice committee, temporarily chaired by Rep. Oscar Rodriguez of Pampanga, and paved the way for the panel last Monday to make the historic vote endorsing the complaint to the House proper.
Estrada wants impeachment case hastened
The President batted for a speedy trial of the impeachment case against him, saying; "I have nothing to hide." "It is true that I want this process of impeachment speeded up," Mr. Estrada said, adding that his silence as the case dragged on was being misconstrued as an admission of guilt. "The longer the delay that I have kept silent, (the more) they convict me of being guilty already," the President stressed.
Malacañang earlier issued a press statement quoting Mr. Estrada calling on the legislators, specifically members of LAMP, to immediately set in motion the impeachment proceedings. As if heeding his call, Senate President Franklin Drilon, along with Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Anna Dominique Coseteng declared their defection from LAMP to join the united opposition.
At the House, Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. led 46 pro-administration congressmen in signing the impeachment complaint. The move also signified their departure from the ruling party. Mr. Estrada said the desertions have ceased, adding that some of the deserters have even sent feelers that they wanted to rejoin LAMP, but did not name names. He branded the defections as "disinformation" being waged by the opposition.
Mr. Estrada hailed the statement of support issued by the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) headed by Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara. "I am happy about it because slowly, many of my supporters are coming back." Meanwhile, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. denied allegations that Malacañang was plotting the ouster of Drilon as Senate President and Villar as Speaker of the House.
"Malacañang will do no such thing because we are not the legislature. Malacañang will not interfere in that process (congressional leadership revamp)," Puno said. Also yesterday, the President said he accepted suggestions by his predecessor and arch critic, former President Fidel Ramos.
However, Mr. Estrada insisted that his management style has been on the right track, particularly in restoring normalcy from the current political and economic turmoil besetting the country. Mr. Estrada cited Monday's rebound of the peso against the dollar, and the upswing of the stock market even as impeachment proceedings against him formally opened at the House. He said he accepted Mr. Ramos' advice on how to improve the economy and for him to mend his ways.
Pimentel seeks impeach rules
Pimentel filed Senate Resolution No. 890 seeking the adoption of rules of procedures and practice regarding the impeachment process. Pimentel said with the impending impeachment trial, "it is only proper that the Senate should adopt certain rules or procedures and practice to govern the impeachment proceedings against the President and other impeachable constitutional officials."
Among the salient points of the proposed rules is a provision mandating that the impeachment trial must be conducted daily except Sunday "until final judgment shall be rendered." Other provisions include:
• The (Supreme Court) Chief Justice shall preside over the impeachment proceedings.
• The legislative and executive business of the Senate shall be suspended while it conducts the trial of the impeachment case.
• The person (being) impeached shall be called to appear and answer the articles of impeachment against him although his designated representative may appear on his behalf.
• At all times of the impeachment trial, the doors of the Senate shall be kept open unless the Senate shall direct the doors to be closed while deliberating on its decisions.
• The Senate sitting in an impeachment trial may not adjourn for more than one 24-hour day.
• On the final question of whether the impeachment is sustained, the yeas and nays shall be taken on each article of impeachment separately. If the impeachment shall not, upon any article of the impeachment presented, be sustained by the votes of two-thirds of the members present, a judgment of acquittal shall be entered.
November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, Political scandals not a monopoly of Estrada -- Enrile, by Perseus Echeminada,
Though past presidents of the Republic had also been embroiled in controversy, not one of them knew the trouble President Estrada has seen, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday. Enrile said former Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and even the late father of Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had their own share of scandals in varying degrees during their incumbencies, but no one called for their resignation.
At a press conference, Enrile said Aquino, one of the prime movers of the resign Estrada movement, had her Kamag-anak Inc. controversy where her relatives were accused of getting favors from government. "I exposed in the Senate that relatives of former President Aquino amassed at least 39 companies during her incumbency," he said. Enrile said Ramos was hailed to the hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee which was looking into the anomalous PEA-Amari deal exposed by former Sen. Ernesto Maceda.
On the other hand, Enrile said the Harry Stonehill payola and other scandals broke out during the term of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, father of Arroyo who is also calling for Mr. Estrada's resignation. "As a young lawyer I participated in the investigation of the Stonehill scandal," he said. Enrile said former President Manuel Roxas, grandfather of resigned Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas II, was also dragged into controversy over the Araneta real estate case, which now comprises the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City.
The critics of Elpidio Quirino, the senator said, likewise did not spare him when they hit the former president's golden bed and paraded his chamberpot in public. And during the time of President Manuel Quezon, the construction of Highway 54, the present EDSA, was marred by the issue regarding the Madrigal estate in Mandaluyong through which the highway would run.
Ramon Magsaysay, known as the champion of the masses, was also implicated in some dealings of a relative while Carlos Garcia was likewise linked to scandal involving alleged corruption of his executive secretary,Enrile said. Enrile however noted that despite the scandals, the previous presidents were not subjected to pressures to resign from their post, unlike the current travails of Mr. Estrada. He said the critics of the President should not rock the boat using the jueteng scandal and just let the constitutional process run its course.
The senator also belittled the call of various business groups demanding the resignation of Mr. Estrada, saying they do not represent the majority of the Filipino people. "Business groups do not elect a president," Enrile said. But Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. disputed this, saying a business group like the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has a nationwide network and could influence the masses. –Perseus Echeminada
November 8, 2000, The Philippine Star, Joma prods Arroyo: No compromise with Estrada, by Benjie Villa,
The self-exiled leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Jose Ma. Sison, warned leaders of the so-called "united opposition" against striking a compromise deal with President Estrada to give him a "graceful exit" from Malacañang.
Anticipating the resignation of Mr. Estrada "before the Christmas holidays," the mainstream communist movement has thrown its "tactical" support behind efforts to install Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president.
But Sison cautioned that Arroyo "will start her presidency from a weak and vulnerable position if she condones the crimes of Mr. Estrada in exchange for his resignation."
"She will be in the morass of a bankrupt government that has to undertake a program of austerity at the expense of the people," said Sison, who is living in self-exile in the Netherlands.
Backdoor talks
Sison was apparently reacting to reports that Finance Secretary Jose Pardo has been holding talks with former President Corazon Aquino for a possible graceful exit for Mr. Estrada.
Calls for Mr. Estrada's resignation have mounted following the exposé of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson that the President received millions of pesos in payoffs from jueteng operators.
Militant groups identified with the CPP have joined the clamor, and even forged a "tactical alliance" with the united opposition.
These groups, however, insisted that even if Mr. Estrada decides to step down and forego the impeachment process in the Senate, he should still be prosecuted and jailed along with his cronies for alleged corruption in government.
Protest actions
In other developments:
* In Bulacan, church leaders and lay people will hold a prayer rally on Nov. 14, while various militant groups will stage a protest action in the capital town of Malolos, to intensify their call for Mr. Estrada's resignation or impeachment.
The Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) is also reportedly staging a provincewide transport strike, in support for anti-Estrada activities spearheaded by the Archdiocese of Malolos.
* A Pangasinense group, calling itself Agco (local word for reject), is calling on all anti-Estrada forces nationwide to constitute a body which will synchronize all protest actions to hasten Mr. Estrada’s removal from office.
Lawyer Delmer Cruz, Agco secretary-general, said sustained and well-coordinated protest actions will surely jolt the Estrada government and trigger the President’s immediate ouster.
Agco recently staged a noise barrage, a candlelight protest and march rally, and will spearhead a motorcade dubbed "Sakbayan Erap Resign" on Nov. 18 and 25 in Pangasinan’s three cities and 45 towns. -- With James Mananghaya and Eva de Leon
November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Heavy losses force Estrada pal to close down Davao hotel, by Edith R. Regalado,
DAVAO CITY – Heavy financial losses have forced plastics king and presidential friend William Gatchalian to close down Tuesday the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, considered to be among the landmarks in the city. The closure, which according to the Wellex Group of Companies is only temporary, caught the almost 200 hotel personnel by surprise who were all worried about their being suddenly jobless.
Of the 200 hotels workers, who were barred from entering the sprawling premises of the 157-room hotel by the beach since Tuesday, at least 53 were reportedly asked to stay until Dec. 6 to provide services to the remaining guests.
The Waterfront Insular Hotel was the second big hotel to cease operations in Davao due to the problems brought about by the Mindanao crisis and the economic crunch the country is now experiencing. The Malaysian proprietors of the Samal Casino Resort in the nearby Samal Island, closed the resort complex early last year after incurring heavy losses.
There were reports last year that the Gatchalians were even planning to buy Samal Casino Resort because of the casino facilities in the complex but reportedly failed to reach an agreement with the Malaysian owners of the resort.
"It appeared that the hotel was running on heavy losses wherein the operational costs were really higher than how much it was actually earning in terms of income from both the banquet functions and the rooms," reliable sources in the local hotel industry said. Starting Tuesday, the hotel reportedly only accepted guests with prior room reservations while all its functions rooms, including the restaurants and the bar, were closed already.
"We have been refusing any walk-in guests and we have not been serving any food anymore. There are no more functions in our ballrooms," said a hotel employee who were among those who lost their jobs last Tuesday. Efforts to get in touch with the hotel management proved futile as nobody would want to speak for and in behalf of those who are still with the skeletal force tasked to take charge of the daily operations of the hotel until Dec. 6.
By Dec. 6, sources said, the hotel would completely cease operations after it has honored all the room reservations it has committed to serve. The hotel, which was built by the Ayala Group of Companies in the early 1960s, was bought by the Gatchalians for P500 million late last year. The management of the hotel was formally turned over by the Ayalas to the Gatchalians last January.
Aside from the Davao Insular Hotel, the Gatchalians also acquired other hotels in Laoag, and in Cebu, forming the Waterfront chain of hotels. Two of the major functions that President Estrada attended here in Davao City during his two latest trips here last month, were supposed to be held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel but a last minute change of venue took place wherein both functions were held instead at the Mercure Grand Hotel, owned also by another presidential friend Eddie Gaisano of Cebu.
No explanations on the change of venue were given by the organizers of both important events, the third meeting of the Mindanao Coordinating Council and the general meeting of the Mindanao Confederation of Governors and Mayors. In both instances, the President also opted to stay overnight at the Grand Mercure Hotel instead of at the Waterfront.
November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Anti-Estrada groups draft M'danao dev't agenda, by Edith Regalado,
DAVAO CITY – Various opposition groups here have drawn up an alternative development agenda for Mindanao which they will present to Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo is expected to arrive here on Saturday to consult with local political leaders and non-government groups regarding her proposed program of government should she take over the presidency once President Estrada resigns.
"We have to make sure that Mindanao will not be left out once a new government takes over," said Irene Santiago of Aksyon Demokratiko and Kusog Mindanaw Foundation. The proposed development agenda, drafted during the Kusog Mindanaw meeting here last week, includes an immediate ceasefire between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels, demilitarization of areas where hostilities continue, and speedy delivery of relief assistance to over 200,000 evacuees.
Santiago said the opposition groups also sought a review of the organizational structures and functions of existing agencies focusing on Mindanao concerns such as the Mindanao Economic Development Council and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Regional Concerns. Meanwhile, Arroyo has sought the support of the people of Pampanga, the birthplace of her father, former President Diosdado Macapagal, to press for Mr. Estrada's resignation.
Leaders of the Coalition for the Ouster of Erap (CORE), organized in Angeles City two weeks ago, said Arroyo has volunteered to lead anti- Estrada rallies in the province. "We have a tentative schedule for a rally on Monday, and if things materialize, the Vice President will lead it," said CORE spokesman Alex Cauguiran. Various multisectoral groups and left- leaning organizations have coalesced under CORE to press for Mr. Estrada's resignation.
Three of Pampanga's four congressmen have bolted the administration Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) following the jueteng expose of Ilocos Sur. Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson. CORE is staging a rally today at Plaza Miranda in Angeles City. Tomorrow, a prayer vigil for the "enlightenment" of Mr. Estrada will also be held in the city.
In Baguio City, some 500 people staged a rally yesterday to demand Mr. Estrada's ouster. The rally was organized by the 14 convenor groups of the oust-Estrada movement in the city, led by the Free Legal Assistance Office.
Another rally is slated on Nov. 14, and participants were requested to wear white, which the organizers said symbolizes the fresh start after Mr. Estrada resigns. Meanwhile, 11 of the 14 Mindoro Oriental mayors belonging to LAMP have expressed their support for beleaguered Mr. Estrada.
But Arnan Panaligan, mayor of Calapan, the province's lone city, believes that Mr. Estrada has only weeks in office based on recent developments on the political front. He belongs to Lakas-NUCD. However, Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he believes that an Arroyo presidency will not happen. "Why are we talking about her administration? She's not the president and I don't think she will be in the near future," he said. Bongbong is organizing a huge rally in support of Mr. Estrada in Batac town on Saturday. – With Ding Cervantes, Joe Leuterio and Teddy Molina
November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Reconciliation not resignation -- Estrada,
President Estrada said yesterday his offer of reconciliation to the political opposition and the anti-Estrada groups and not his resignation is the only way out of the political and economic crises gripping the country.
After signing an executive order creating the coconut levy trust fund at Malacañang yesterday, the Chief Executive told reporters "some forces in our society" are busy discrediting him to the detriment of the masses.
"Nevertheless, I have offered to them the hand of reconciliation," he said. "I offered to them a way out, which is to work together. I renew these offers to them for the good of our nation." Mr. Estrada said he is confident he would be vindicated after the Senate terminates the impeachment trial with his acquittal if the proceedings reach that point.
"I will prove wrong those who have put their personal and political interests above the interests of our country in demanding my ouster and fomenting political and economic instability," he said. The President said the administration's efforts to improve the country's economy are being sidetracked by "some sectors" so they could immediately seize power.
On the other hand, the President is wooing leaders of the Catholic Church to join the "National Day of Prayer and Fasting" on Saturday, Malacañang said yesterday. Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora and Presidential Adviser on Flagship Projects Secretary Robert Aventajado Jr. told reporters yesterday the prayer rally is intended for the unity of Filipinos and not to boost the popularity of Mr. Estrada.
Meanwhile, Bro. Mike Velarde, spiritual leader of the Catholic fellowship El Shaddai, told reporters yesterday he has "no comment" to a statement of Robert de Castro, secretary general of the militant church organization Promotion of Church People's Response, that he is a "false prophet."
Earlier, De Castro called Velarde "a religio-political opportunist" who is misleading El Shaddai members into "supporting the un-Christian and satanic policies and programs" of Mr. Estrada. "No amount of miracle will prevent the eventual downfall of (President) Estrada," he said. "Not even the fake miraculous prayer and rituals of the pseudo and false prophet Mike Velarde. (He) is a divisive tool of Estrada against the Roman Catholic Church and the public."
De Castro described Saturday's prayer rally as a "cheap and desperate Marcos-style political gimmick of Estrada" to project that the people still support him. On another front, Laguna Gov. Joey Lina, president of the League of Governors, will lead 25 provincial governors and 13 Metro Manila mayors in calling for President Estrada's resignation during the "Welga ng Mamamayan" tomorrow.
Pastor "Boy" Saycon, secretary general of the Council on Philippine Affairs, told reporters yesterday the 25 governors and 13 mayors will be joined in the rally by leaders of labor federations and affiliated groups from all over the country.
"We expect about half a million workers (public and private), students, and other groups to join the rally, which will be a prelude to a bigger rally to oust (President) Estrada," he said. Saycon said the second rally will involve the stoppage of air, sea, and land transportation nationwide, and that seaports and airports will be closed to passengers and cargoes, with only perishable goods to be allowed in.
Saycon said major land transport groups have already signaled their intention to join the planned protest to stop work and paralyze transportation operations in the country. At the Archdiocese of Manila, the Presbyteral Council headed by Jaime Cardinal Sin urged the media in a statement yesterday not to allow themselves to be used to hide the truth or distract people from the truth.
"The issue is morality in public office," read the statement. "The issue is the immorality of the highest political leader of the nation. Let us stay focused not so much on the opinions and statement we hear but more on what the Lord wants us to do." Sin said that in the Old Testament and the Catholic Church's history, "the prophets who call on people to change will be presented as the criminals and the guilty, the innocent ones."
Since the time the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of Manila issued the call to the faithful, entitled "On the Way of Truth," so many events have transpired in the country, he added. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 labor unions are preparing for a nationwide walkout and work stoppage on Nov. 14 to pressure Mr. Estrada to step down. Victor Briz, an official of the Buklurang Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), told reporters yesterday their union and affiliate organizations are mobilizing more than 1,000 labor unions for the planned general strike.
"The planned mass walkout of workers would serve as a prelude to a crippling nationwide industrial week the following week or until (President) Estrada finally steps down from Malacañang," he said. Meanwhile, militant groups led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) demanded yesterday that the President be criminally prosecuted if he resigns.
At a press conference, KMU chairman Crispin Beltran said Mr. Estrada should not be allowed to "negotiate his way out," and that he should be made accountable for all the charges hurled against him. "(President) Estrada should not be allowed to go the way of deposed dictator (Ferdinand) Marcos who escaped effective prosecution by striking deals and settlements," he said.
Beltran issued the statement following reports that Malacañang officials are now negotiating with former President Corazon Aquino and other opposition leaders for President Estrada's graceful exit. Briz said the BMP's urban poor allies and the multisectoral Sanlakas are now soliciting the support of other sectors for a big mass action in Ayala Avenue in Makati.
Simultaneous rallies will also take place in Southern Tagalog, Iloilo, Bacolod City, Cebu, and Iligan City, he added. On the other hand, party-list Rep. Renato Magtubo, who is also secretary general of Sanlakas, urged workers to stand up and let their voices be heard. "Cease all hesitance," he said. "Now is the moment for the powerful voice of the workers to be heard," he said. – Marichu Villanueva, Sandy Araneta, Mayen Jaymalin, Jaime Laude, and Benjie Villa
November 9, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sayyaf camp seized, by Roel Pareño,
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Soldiers captured a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf in heavy fighting in Indanan, Sulu, but did not find either of the two hostages, including an American, still being held by the extremist guerrillas, a military official said yesterday. Army Scout Rangers stormed the Abu Sayyaf camp last Tuesday and seized it after a 30-minute battle, Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces' Southern Command said.
Atendido said the Scout Rangers, belonging to the 11th and 17th Scout Ranger Companies, suffered no casualties, but some of the rebels may have been killed or wounded and dragged away by their comrades as indicated by bloodstains left from their retreat into the forests in Indanan.
"This is the first time our troops discovered that the Abu Sayyaf has put up a steady camp," Atendido said. At the Abu Sayyaf camp, he said the Rangers found seven bunkers with running trenches and recovered combat packs, bandoliers, foodstuff, kitchen utensils and personal belongings.
Maj. Gen. Gregorio Camiling, Southcom chief, said an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, launched Sept. 16 to rescue an earlier 19 hostages, will continue even after the two remaining captives are rescued. "We want to teach them a lesson," Camiling said. "They have no way out but to surrender."
Seventeen of the hostages have been recovered, leaving only American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah still in Abu Sayyaf hands. Ullah, the longest-held hostage, was seized in April along with 20 other tourists and workers from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan and brought to Sulu. The rebels later abducted scores of other hostages, including Schilling, a 24-year-old Muslim convert from Oakland, California. The other Sipadan hostages were released in separate groups in exchange for more than $15 million in ransom, hostage negotiators said. — With AP
November 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, Effigy of "Asiong Salonga" torched in Pampanga rally, by Ding Cervantes,
ANGELES CITY -- Some 5,000 people from all over Pampanga took to the streets here yesterday, carrying a huge effigy of President Estrada as "Asiong Salonga," a movie role he once played, which they torched amid shouts for his resignation.
Leading the anti-Estrada rally were Gov. Lito Lapid, Lakas-NUCD secretary-general Roberto Pagdanganan and former Internal Revenue Commissioner Liwayway Vinzons-Chato.
This developed as the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) is mulling a nationwide transport strike on Nov. 14 to heed the call of anti-Estrada groups for a "welgang bayan."
Medardo Roda, Piston president, said they support moves to oust Mr. Estrada from office. "(Mr. Estrada) already has his undeserved days in Malacañang so it's time for him to step down," he said.
Among those planning to join the "welgang bayan (nationwide strike)" are public school teachers who threaten to boycott their classes.
The teachers, belonging to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), have given Mr. Estrada a failing grade and recommended his expulsion from "the school of the Filipino people."
Officials of the Angeles University Foundation, the Holy Angel University, Chevalier School and Holy Family Academy in this city suspended classes yesterday afternoon to allow teachers and students to participate in the rally spearheaded by the Coalition for the Ouster of Erap (CORE) formed two weeks ago by local multisectoral groups.
The huge effigy of Mr. Estrada reportedly cost about P8,000. It was burned, together with another effigy of a pig in a poke, whose head was that of Mr. Estrada, during the rally at Plaza Miranda in the heart of this city.
Earlier, 14 Lakas-NUCD mayors in Pampanga estimated that no less than 3,000 people from each of their municipalities were expected to join yesterday's rally. As of noontime, some 5,000 people had already assembled in different points in this city for the march to Plaza Miranda.
CORE spokesman Alex Cauguiran said more rallies will be staged here and in other parts of Central Luzon until Mr. Estrada steps down from office.
"The President has promised to build houses for the poor and low-income families. But for several weeks, we have been shocked (to hear about) the multimillion-peso mansions he has reportedly built in posh subdivisions," he said.
The other day, the Angeles City council unanimously approved a resolution urging the President to "immediately resign to save the country from economic disaster and political upheaval."
The resolution endorsed Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the "constitutional successor to ensure the peaceful and harmonious transfer of presidential powers."
Pagdanganan and Chato urged the rallyists to use mass actions to force Mr. Estrada out of Malacañang. -- With Sheila Crisostomo
November 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, 500 mayors sign manifesto of support for Estrada, by Cecille Suerte Felipe,
President Estrada ordered the immediate release of the cash gifts and 13th month pay of government employees throughout the country. The good news was announced by the Chief Executive during a special meeting of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines at Club Filipino in San Juan yesterday.
Mr. Estrada also told the assembled municipal mayors the P41-billion internal revenue allotment (IRA) of local governments will be released next January. "The IRA share (of local governments) would be released for development projects in the local level even without the approval of Congress," he said.
The mayors signed a two-page manifesto expressing their support to and confidence in the President and vowed to "uphold, respect, and protect the Constitution and democratic processes." In the manifesto, the mayors said they prefer that Mr. Estrada face the impeachment proceedings in Congress rather than resign as demanded by anti-Estrada groups.
"Until proven beyond reasonable doubt, the allegations against President Estrada are baseless and fabricated lies," read the manifesto. Of the 550 mayors who signed the manifesto, 210 were from the Visayas; 186 from Luzon; and 154 had come from Mindanao.
Marihatag, Surigao Mayor Librado Navarro, vice president of the League of Municipalities, said President Estrada still enjoys the confidence of the majority of the country's municipal mayors. "Some of our mayors failed to come here because of their problem in accommodation," he said. "But still they are rallying behind the President."
In the same venue yesterday, more than 600 municipal mayors from the different regions, including members of the opposition Lakas-NUCD- UMDP, joined the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, the President's original political party. At a mass oath-taking ceremony, the mayors declared their support for the Constitution and Mr. Estrada, and rejected the opposition's call for the Chief Executive's resignation. "(The anti-Estrada groups) clearly betray and totally disregard the will of the people," read the omnibus resolution which the mayors unanimously approved.
"Under his (Estrada) presidency, local governments have realized full local and fiscal autonomy; and actually collaborated and coordinated with national government agencies in the effective delivery of basic services as in Cost- Sharing with the Department of Public Works and Highways."
Manila Mayor Lito Atienza urged anti-Estrada groups to support the Constitution and not to make the economy the justification of their call for President Estrada to resign. "They are pitting the economy versus the truth," he said. On the other hand, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn said the voice of the people in the provinces has been completely disregarded by "a few groups" whom he accused of trying to divide the nation.
Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy said although mayors in Samar belong to different political parties, they have decided to rally behind Mr. Estrada and urged him to reject the calls for his resignation. However, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan Mayor Carlito Zaplan told The STAR yesterday 45 town mayors from Pangasinan boycotted yesterday's meeting of the League of Municipal Mayors because of the alleged "cold treatment" from San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, the league's president.
Meanwhile, Francis Pangilinan, founding chairman of the National Movement of Young Legislators, called on the citizenry yesterday to be vigilant of President Estrada's possible impeachment trial at the Senate. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Eva de Leon
November 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada admits aide got P200 M from Chavit, by Marichu Villanueva,
For the first time since the jueteng scandal broke out, President Estrada admitted yesterday that one of his aides received P200 million skimmed from tobacco taxes and delivered by his estranged friend, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson. The President asserted, however, that he never touched the money which his aide, lawyer Edward Serapio, deposited in a bank ostensibly for a Muslim youth foundation. Mr. Estrada said this will be used as evidence to clear his name in his impending impeachment trial. Serapio now serves as legal counsel of the President's family.
Singson has accused Mr. Estrada of pocketing more than P400 million in bribes from big-time jueteng operators over a period of 21 months. He also said the President asked for the P200 million as a commission from tobacco taxes in exchange for the release of funds for Ilocos Sur.
The accusations have triggered a deluge of calls for the President to step down, as well as the worst political crisis that sent the financial market into a tailspin. Mr. Estrada, a 63-year-old former town mayor and movie actor, has denied Singson's charges and vowed to defend himself in an impeachment trial before the Senate.
The President explained that when Singson tried to give the P200 million to him as a bribe from the jueteng operators, "I would not touch it because since I was mayor, I would not touch (illegal gambling) money, more so now that I am president."
"I said I will not accept that. The money accumulated and he (Singson) deposited it in several places. I learned about it only lately," he said. Mr. Estrada said Singson insisted on delivering the money and asked controversial accountant Yolando Ricaforte to deliver it to Serapio, who was then undersecretary for political affairs.
He ordered Yolly (Ricarforte) to go to Attorney Serapio who is the corporate secretary of the Muslim Youth Scholarship Foundation, and there deposited the money and that money is still intact, not one cent has been spent," Mr. Estrada said. The President denied earlier having personally known Ricaforte. He said Singson then arranged to have the money deposited in the account of a "Muslim youth scholarship fund."
"That money is intact in the bank. None of it has been touched," Mr. Estrada said. Critics of the President insisted, however, that the Muslim youth scholarship foundation was a front used by the Chief Executive to cover up payoffs. The President pointed out that the money would be used as evidence to clear his name of Singson's charges in the forthcoming impeachment trial. He reiterated his claim of innocence, adding he would not resign despite a growing clamor for him to relinquish his post.
Mr. Estrada claimed he did not immediately react to Singson's allegations on the advice of his lawyers, but added he is now ready with his defense and will personally appear at the impeachment proceedings. "There will be time for truth and judgment," the President stressed. He branded as "lies and disinformation" allegations by Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. that Malacañang has allotted P1 billion to influence senators into voting down his impeachment.
The President also laughed off reports that his aides were trying to negotiate a graceful exit for him. "I will make my graceful exit in 2004" when his term ends, he said. Mr. Estrada said the opposition has offered not to pursue any charges against him if he resigned, but declined the offer.
"Why should I accept that when there is nothing that they can charge me with? I am not at fault." He said the offer was relayed through a close friend, lawyer Manny Zamora. The President also vehemently belied Singson's allegations that they played high-stake mah-jongg aboard the presidential yacht RPS Ang Pangulo with actresses entertaining them "for a fee." "There is no truth to that... there is no truth to that," the President blurted out.
Chavit says Estrada can't save himself
"No amount of money can save President Estrada from being impeached," Singson said yesterday. Singson was reacting to reports that Malacañang has earmarked P1 billion to influence senators into tossing out the impeachment case against him. "Even if he buys all the senators, he can't be off the hook because of the strong evidence against him," Singson said.
He said he still has in his possession several pieces of evidence that could pin down the President. The government said his charges of graft and corruption against Mr. Estrada were just "the tip of the iceberg." He cited as example allocations of sugar and rice where the Chief Executive allegedly raked in millions of pesos.
He claimed a property in Tagaytay City bought for P3 million was mortgaged to the Philippine National Bank for P500 million. Singson also alleged that Mr. Estrada could have amassed an estimated P2 billion over a two-year-period of his presidency. He hinted that the President would rather talk to his Chinese cronies such as Dante Tan and Lucio Co than meet with his Cabinet.
On the other hand, Mr. Estrada vowed to send Singson to jail for alleged plunder of the coffers of his province to the tune of P2 billion. He branded the governor as the "biggest liar" for leveling the jueteng charges against him. Mr. Estrada claimed Singson befriended him after he assumed the presidency in 1998, then started asking for so many favors, and tried to bribe him with the jueteng payoff.
Meanwhile, the united opposition was reportedly wooing some ranking police officials to join their movement to oust Mr. Estrada. Reliable sources in the intelligence community said these officers held a caucus recently to discuss the possibility of supporting the political opposition's attempts to unseat the President.
The sources identified some of the officers as Director Hermogenes Ebdane of the Philippine National Police's (PNP) Human Resource and Development, former Intelligence Group directors Chief Superintendents Victor Signey, Arturo Lomibao, former chief of Directorate for Intelligence Clyde Fernandez and Western Police District chief Avelino Razon.
Razon said he got the invitation but declined it because he wanted to remain "apolitical." Chief Superintendent Florencio Fianza reportedly met with other police officials at a hotel in Manila to map out their plans in case the situation called for it. However, Fianza vehemently denied the report, indicating it was part of a continuing harassment against him. "I do not know where the reports came from. I am not a politician, so why would I do that?"
Ranking police officials perceived the move as a possible threat to the leadership of PNP chief Director General Panfilo Lacson. Former PNP chief Director Roberto Lastimoso reportedly met with certain leaders of the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa on Saturday following the huge prayer-rally at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City to press Mr. Estrada's resignation.
"They are a bunch of disgruntled officers who have an ax to grind against the PNP," Lacson said. Attempting to instill loyalty among the present crop of PNP officials, Lacson issued a one-page memorandum enjoining them to remain non-partisan and focused on their sworn duties.–With Christina Mendez, Eva de Leon, wire services
November 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Hundreds of families flee MILF attacks Upi town, by Roel Pareño,
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Hundreds of civilians fled in terror when more than 200 fully armed separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members attacked yesterday a populated town and seized a Filipino-Chinese businesswoman in North Upi, Maguindanao province, officials here said.
However, the victim managed to escape as fighting broke out between the rebels and pursuing government forces, backed by civilian volunteers. At least five separatist rebels were reported killed and one captured.
Government forces believe they inflicted heavy casualties on the MILF force, forcing it to break up and withdraw in different directions to divide the attention of pursuing government troops. Two civilians, two soldiers and a civilian volunteer were seriously injured when heavy fighting erupted in North Upi, lasting more than two hours. Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, chief of the Civil Relations Group (CRG) for Mindanao, said the fighting broke out when the rebels, armed with B40 rocket launchers, swooped down on the poblacion.
Col. Covarrubias said the rebel group seized prominent Filipino-Chinese businesswoman So Kim Chew, 41, in front of her general merchandise store at about 9:30 a.m. yesterday. Alerted elements of the Philippine National Police and military troops backed by elements of the 38th CAFGU company immediately launched pursuit operations. Covarrubias said Chew saw a chance, dashed to freedom and was rescued by the authorities two hours later. The suspects were later reinforced by 200 more fully armed comrades who were waiting on the border of Noro Upi Village, triggering more heavy fighting that sent many civilians fleeing their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire. "The combined forces successfully repulsed the rebels," Covarrubias said as pursuit operations continued. The troops captured one of the rebels and recovered one M16 Armalite rifle. As of press time, Covarrubias said sporadic firing continued as the rebels were monitored moving towards the foot of Mt. Daguma near Camp Omar, an MILF lair that the government had seized.
November 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Lawyers shocked by Estrada s admission,
Lawyers of President Estrada were "shocked" by his revelation that millions of pesos in bribes were deposited in an account controlled by his aide, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said yesterday. Mr. Estrada told the nation about the bank account on Thursday during successive radio broadcasts, ahead of his looming impeachment for alleged corruption. "Frankly, they were shocked," Zamora said of the panel of lawyers that Mr. Estrada had hired to advise him at the impeachment trial.
Zamora said the legal team, led by retired Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, is now working overtime to contain the damage. Mr. Estrada's lawyers had previously advised the Pre-sident to hold his tongue until it could be determined what the impeachment charges would be.
Zamora said the impeachment complaint at the House of Representatives "would probably be issued by Monday." "Some of us met yesterday to determine the implications of the statements of the President," Zamora told radio station dzMM. He said the bank account held between "P220 million and P250 million" as of Thursday.
The impeachment case is largely based on allegations by former presidential friend, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, that he delivered to Mr. Estrada more than P400 million in payoffs from illegal gambling operators between November 1998 and August 2000.
Under the Constitution, if at least two-thirds of the 22-member Senate find there is a "preponderance of evidence" against Mr. Estrada during a trial, he would be removed from office and face possible criminal prosecution and even imprisonment afterwards.
The month-old political crisis has shaken investor confidence, putting pressure on the peso, interest rates and the stock market. Mr. Estrada's top aides have warned that the economy could slow down unless the crisis is resolved democratically by yearend. In his first detailed response to allegations, Mr. Estrada said Thursday that Singson's aide, Yolanda Ricaforte, delivered the money to lawyer Edward Serapio, the corporate secretary of a charitable foundation set up by the President when he came to power in 1998.
The foundation plans to sponsor fresh Muslim graduates, who would be "the next generation of Muslim leaders," to postgraduate "liberal education" in the West, Zamora said. "The money that Singson gave me is in the bank, intact," Mr. Estrada said. "I have not spent a single centavo." But he insisted that he previously rejected the money when Singson attempted to hand it over in person.
The political opposition swiftly pounced on Mr. Estrada's revelation. Hernani Perez, a spokesman for the Lakas-NUCD party, said it proved that Mr. Estrada and his men resorted to "money laundering just like criminal organizations." At least three opposition senators demanded that the money be brought to the national treasury.
Zamora said Serapio had not advised the President of the existence of the money "until this thing exploded." The lawyer himself was unaware that the account held the purported bribe money because Singson told him that the deposit was a legitimate donation to the charitable foundation, he added.
Zamora said Mr. Estrada's public statement could not be retracted, and his lawyers "will just have to work with that and ensure that it will not harm his case." Mr. Estrada also revealed on Thursday that he had rejected an offer of a "graceful exit" from Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has led calls for his resignation and who would replace him should he be impeached.
He said Arroyo offered him immunity from prosecution if he quits now. But Mr. Estrada stressed that he was "innocent" and would make a "graceful exit in 2004," at the end of his term. Also yesterday, Mr. Estrada said that the current political turmoil was "temporary." "These are temporary and unfortunate events that we have to deal with in a democratic society," he told foreign correspondents club in Manila, stressing that the charges "stand on shaky ground."
He said he expects to emerge unscathed and "restore the political and economic stability" which he said has been put at risk by rivals who wanted to grab power using means "outside the framework mandated by our Constitution." Asked if resigning would not be the more honorable thing to do, he said the Philippines did not practice a parliamentary form of government, and quitting before his term ends "is against the Constitution." – Marichu Villanueva, AFP
November 12, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF attacks buses 1 dead 16 hurt, by John Unson,
COTABATO CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked two buses plying the Davao-Cotabato route at dawn yesterday, killing a passenger and wounding 16 other commuters in another atrocity the separatist guerrillas perpetrated even as they insisted they were ready to resume peace talks with the government.
The attack came less than 24 hours after the bungled attempt by MILF rebels to take over the town proper of Upi, a hinterland municipality in Maguindanao, which triggered skirmishes that left three rebels dead, three civilians wounded and the near-kidnapping of a Chinese businessman.
Citing initial feedback, Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said the rebel attackers, armed with M-16 and M-14 assault rifles and positioned on both sides of a portion of the Davao- Cotabato Highway in Pikit, North Cotabato, opened fire on two Wenna buses.
Ando said one of the buses, which left Davao City at about 2 a.m. yesterday, was crippled in the middle of the highway after the rebels peppered its tires with bullets. Initial radio reports said an unidentified passenger was killed and 16 commuters were wounded in the attack.
Two of those wounded, teachers Genalyn Caño, 25, and Marivic Cadis, 24, said they were awakened by the burst of gunfire directed at their vehicle. Among those rushed here for treatment of gunshot wounds were Benny Escudero, unit manager of an insurance firm, and Deo Cosare, conductor of one of the ill-fated buses.
"Merong isang namatay pero hindi ko sigurado kung lalaki ito o babae. Napakabilis ng pangyayari (Somebody was killed but I'm not sure if the victim is a man or a woman. The incident happened so fast)," said Caño, now recuperating at a hospital here. Junaid Adam, manager of the Wenna bus company, said the attack would not stop them from plying the Davao- Cotabato route. The MILF denied any involvement in the attack. "MILF guerrillas only target military positions, vehicles, detachments in carrying out their offensives," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.
Meanwhile, soldiers were still pursuing the Moro rebels behind last Friday's bungled attempt to take over the town proper of Upi in Maguindanao and kidnap wealthy Chinese residents. A combined team of soldiers, policemen and militiamen engaged the rebels in a running gunbattle, driving them back into the outskirts of the hinterland town.
Three rebels were killed and another guerrilla was arrested by pursuing lawmen, who also recovered an M-16 rifle, a caliber .45 pistol and communication equipment from the fleeing suspects. "Our mopping up operations are still going on," Ando said. The hostilities in Upi came less than two weeks after armed men snatched Arthur Yap, a Chinese trader, from his house in Nuro, the town's capital district.
Yap was brought to a nearby jungle where foot trails have reportedly been booby-trapped and mined to forestall any attempt to rescue him. The military said the rebels succeeded in snatching So Ken Soriano, a grains trader in Upi, but later released him after sensing that armed residents and government security forces had started to outmaneuver them.
Policemen and civilian volunteers, led by Datu Michael Sinsuat Jr., managed to drive the gunmen away and put a security cordon around the town proper, preventing other armed men sighted in nearby areas to launch further attacks.
In Basilan, two MILF rebels and a militiaman were killed in a clash in Tuburan town last Friday, according to Capt. Charlemagne Batayola, acting civil-military operation chief of the Armed Forces' Southern Command.
Batayola said the fighting erupted when militiamen led by one Antonio Tompong chanced upon five armed followers of the leader of Barangay Saluyod. MILF rebels later reinforced the armed men and a firefight ensued, lasting for 15 minutes.
4 Abu Sayyaf rebels killed
Meanwhile, the military said four Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed and scores were wounded when government forces bombarded their group, numbering about 60, with mortar shells in a remote village in Talipao, Sulu. Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, chief of the Army's 1st Infantry Division and concurrent head of Task Force Trident, tasked with going after the extremist group, said a soldier, Cpl. Leonardo Rodolfo, was slain, and another Army man, Cpl. Ormon Rebueno, was wounded in the clash.
Abaya said elements of the 59th Infantry Battalion were on combat patrol when they stumbled upon the lair of the 60 Abu Sayyaf rebels in Barangay Sungcal, Talipao town. Early this week, government troops seized another hideout of the extremist group in Talipao. Several rebels were killed in the assault.
Since the military offensive started last Sept. 16, about 174 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have been killed, 224 have surrendered and 125 have been captured. The extremist group still holds American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah hostage. Ullah was among 21 mostly foreign hostages taken from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan. Except for him, the other captives have been freed. — With Roel Pareño
November 12, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF GRP peace talks may be stalled anew, by John Unson,
COTABATO CITY — Peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front may not resume in the next few months if negotiators from both sides remain adamant and cannot agree on the date and venue of a new round of formal talks.
"Both sides are good only at giving assurances they are ready to resume the talks and this has been going on for months now," commented Datu Michael Sinsuat, mayor of Upi, Maguindanao and president of the league of mayors of the province.
According to Sinsuat, the uncertainty now shrouding the seemingly moribound peace talks have seriously been affecting the efforts of the national government to rehabilitate the areas devastated by the recent military-MILF hostilities.
"And evacuees continue to languish in evecuation sites and refuse to return to their villages because they don't see the members of the GRP and MILF panels facing each other to discuss peaceful solutions to the conflict," Sinsuat added. Some observers, among them Muslim religious leaders, said stories are rife that the MILF, as a requisite to the resumption of the talks, may ask for the recognition anew of its five major camps which fell following government air, ground and artillery offensives.
"The explicit expression by both sides of their willingness to resume with the talks was already a big stride, but it was just the first step of the ladder and the longer it takes for them to start talking again will only create mixed feelings about what the peace talks are really all about," he said.
Al-Haj Murad, MILF's vice chair for military affairs, said they are ready to reactivate their peace panel once the government will agree "in black and white" to the holding of the negotiations abroad. "We can form our peace panel in 24 hours once we have that document," Murad told The STAR through a two-way radio.
MILF chieftain Salamat Hashim disbanded their peace panel last August, about three weeks after soldiers overrun Camp Abubakar, the front's last bastion on the border of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. But even with the capture of the 10,000-hectare guerrilla enclave, MILF forces have not ceased launching clandestine attacks against the Army and Marine combatants guarding the area, using surrounding forests as springboards for their tactical maneuvers.
November 13, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada insists he did not accept P200-M bribe from Chavit,
Trying to contain the damage made by his own admission that an aide got bribe money from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, President Estrada insisted that he was not guilty of bribery.
"I did not receive the money. It did not pass through my hands. It was deposited in the bank without my knowledge. So it is clear that I know nothing of the bribery which they accuse me of," Mr. Estrada said. "The money is still intact so I don't know why it appeared in the papers that bribery happened."
Lawyers for the political opposition said Mr. Estrada can face up to 12 criminal charges based on the one admission. Lakas-NUCD legal counsels Antonio Carpio and Rene Corona said Mr. Estrada violated Presidential Decree 46 which makes it "unlawful for public officials to receive directly or indirectly any gift or other valuable thing on any occasion when given by reason of official position."
By not having Singson arrested for bribery, Mr. Estrada violated the Revised Penal Code which "punishes any public officer who in dereliction of the duties of his office shall tolerate the commission of offenses," Carpio said. Mr. Estrada said he did not have Singson arrested because that was the job of the police and he had many other things to do.
Mr. Estrada visited Ilocos Norte province yesterday to drum up support. Ilocos Norte officials, led by the family of deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos, pledged their support to the President -- a longtime Marcos supporter.
Addressing a crowd of about 5,000 in Batac, the President lashed out anew against the political opposition clamoring for his resignation on corruption allegations. "Let us listen to the voice of the people and not to the noises of a few," he said.
Mr. Estrada had lunch with the Marcoses in their ancestral home and later visited the mausoleum of Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in a 1986 popular uprising.
Marcos' widow, Imelda, advised Mr. Estrada, who faces an almost certain impeachment trial, to "stick to the Constitution. Stick to the rule of law. Stick to the truth and ensure that there will be justice" than give in to the clamor for his resignation.
"I think we cannot have mob rule," she said. "We, the Marcoses, have been victims of injustice from these very same people who are now praying for Erap to resign. They're trying again mob rule but we cannot have mob rule."
The former first lady was referring to Mr. Estrada's arch-critic, Jaime Cardinal Sin, and former President Corazon Aquino, who both urged Mr. Estrada to resign. She urged them to wait for the outcome of the impeachment. In 1986, Sin and Aquino both led a campaign against the Marcos dictatorship that eventually led to its downfall.
Last week, Mr. Estrada made a detailed reply to the jueteng scandal allegations but virtually admitted that his accuser, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson, remitted a P200 million "surprise" from dubious sources.
And that money was deposited in a bank account controlled by his aide, lawyer Edward Serapio, he said. Mr. Estrada also admitted that the money was in the account of a Muslim youth foundation which he set up and is run by his brother-in-law, Raul de Guzman.
Mr. Estrada said the revelation was meant to dispel public perception that his silence on the scandal was a tacit admission of guilt. "I broke my silence on the jueteng controversy in radio interviews to clear the cloud of disinformation and squid tactics now being foisted upon our people, but the details of everything I said will be substantiated and corroborated in the impeachment proceedings," he said. -- With reports from Liberty Dones, Pia Lee-Brago, AFP
November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sabaya's group sighted with Schilling,
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- An Abu Sayyaf group led by Abu Asmad Salayuddi alias Abu Sabaya has moved American captive Jeffrey Schilling out of Patikul, Sulu and brought him to Panamao town, the military disclosed yesterday.
Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, chief of the Civil Relations Group for Mindanao, quoted villagers as saying that Schilling, 24, a native of Oakland, California, USA, has slimmed down.
Covarrubias said Sabaya's group, along with Schilling, has been crisscrossing the towns of Patikul, Panamao and Luuk to evade government forces tracking them down.
He said they still have no idea of the whereabouts of Filipino dive master Roland Ullah, the last remaining captive from among 21 mostly foreign hostages the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan last April 23.
Earlier, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said he received reports that Ullah might have joined his captors after being subjected to indoctrination.
Meanwhile, the military said three Abu Sayyaf fighters and a soldier were killed when Scout Rangers stormed the lair of the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Mujib Susukan in Barangay Kagay, Indanan, Sulu last Saturday night.
The previous day, government troops clashed with the extremist rebels in Talipao town. The military believe that five guerrillas were killed in the two-hour firefight.
Since the military offensive on the Abu Sayyaf began last Sept. 16, at least 178 Abu Sayyaf rebels have been killed. The government's side suffered seven fatalities and 23 wounded.
November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, 11 dead 6 wounded in MILF attacks, by John Unson and Allen Estabillo,
COTABATO CITY — Marauding Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels gunned down 11 people, wounded six others and set 32 houses on fire as they plundered farming communities in different spots in Central Mindanao the other day.
The attacks came a day after MILF rebels sprayed with automatic weapons two buses passing through the Pikit-Midsayap portion of the Cotabato- Davao Highway, killing a commuter and wounding 16 others, among them teachers on their way home from a field trip to Davao City.
Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said a band of MILF rebels first raided Barangay Lasak in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, opening fire on houses with B-40 rocket launchers and machineguns.
The attack left five innocent villagers dead. They were identified as Luzviminda Eleccion, her son Richard, sister Gemma Bianzon and nephews Reggie Suede and Allan Siruco. Luzviminda's husband Geronimo was seriously wounded. He is in critical condition at a hospital in Koronadal City.
Boboy Bianzon, Luzviminda's brother, said he and another companion were sleeping in their house, 50 meters away from the Eleccions, when they were awakened by Gemma's shout, pleading for them to flee, which they did.
In Pikit, North Cotabato, two groups of MILF rebels separately raided farming communities in Barangays Dalengawen and Takepan, killing five villagers for refusing to shell out protection money.
Ando identified the slain villagers as Cesar Alejo, Eddie Soriano, and Florentino, Paulina and Primitivo, all surnamed Calibuso. Local officials said the victims were herded into one spot where they were shot one after another. Ando said the rebel-attackers were led by Commander Akmad Abdullah, long wanted for a string of criminal offenses. Three other villagers, 12-year-old May Anne Alejo, Loreto Andiana and Julius Soriano, were wounded when Abdullah's group strafed houses with machineguns as they fled from the scene after sensing that military reinforcements had started closing in.
Abdullah's men torched more than a dozen houses shortly before fleeing and carted away farm animals, the local police said. The Pikit police said the rebels also gang-raped a woman they used as human shield to forestall pursuit. Pikit is located 78 kilometers north of this city.
Responding elements of the Army's 40th Infantry Battalion engaged the rebels in a four-hour running gunbattle, killing four of them and wounding six others. Four combatants of the 40th IB were slightly wounded in the skirmishes, Ando said.
The bloody incidents in Columbio and Pikit towns were preceded by the MILF's attack on Barangay Itao in South Upi, Maguindanao where they killed a villager, a certain Ted Mangula, and wounded two militiamen, identified as Gerry Compleza and Ignacio Diwan.
The rebels, led by Said Putao, burned 32 houses of Tiruray natives. Last Saturday, religious and political leaders asked Malacañang to work out the resumption of its peace negotiations with the MILF before the start of Ramadhan on Nov. 27. They expressed fears that radical MILF members would carry out more attacks during the season.
"Muslim rebels believe it is during the month of Ramadhan that the gates of heaven are wide-open for martyrs. So the government and the MILF must forge a bilateral ceasefire before the start of Ramadhan," said peace advocate Hadji Ahmad Bayam, a former propagandist of the Moro National Liberation Front.
During the Ramadhan, Muslims abstain from food, sex and drink from sunrise to sunset for one lunar cycle, or 30 days. Its observance is one of the five fundamentals of Islam, which include belief in Allah, giving of alms to the poor, praying five times a day and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.
Maguindanao Gov. Zacaria Candao, chairman of the Provincial Peace and Order Council, said holding a formal round of talks between the government and MILF panels during the Ramadhan would even give a religious meaning to the peace process. "Forging a ceasefire during the Ramadhan will enjoin the MILF to really adhere to it because of the religious importance of this holy month to Muslims," Candao said.
November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Drilon ousted in Senate coup, by Efren Danao,
As expected, Sen. Franklin Drilon lost the Senate presidency yesterday to Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. in a swift coup that also involved a reorganization of the chairmanship of the various standing committees. Drilon's ouster came despite appeals by some of his allies in the chamber to defer the revamp so that they could act speedily on the impending impeachment case against President Estrada.
Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. and opposition Sen. Renato Cayetano expressed fears that the change of leadership could delay their deliberation of the impeachment case. "There is now talk that the Articles of Impeachment would be declared dead on arrival at the Senate," Cayetano said.
However, Pimentel gave assurances that under his leadership, the chamber would follow the constitutional processes "in a manner that is fair and just to everybody." "I am confident that the constitutional process is strong enough to stop the moves of civil disobedience," Pimentel said in his acceptance speech.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile made the motion to declare the Senate presidency vacant. It was carried by a vote of 12-7. Sen. Sergio Osmeña III later nominated Pimentel as Drilon's successor, while Drilon batted for Guingona.
Pimentel won by a 13-6 vote
"My original idea was to abstain, but when I learned that a vote of 13 is needed to be elected Senate President, I voted for myself," he admitted. Guingona and Sen. Rodolfo Biazon abstained. Drilon, who took over the top Senate post from Sen. Blas Ople last April, graciously accepted his ouster, saying he had expected it since he bolted the ruling Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) coalition earlier this month over charges that Mr. Estrada received more than P400 million in jueteng payoffs.
"Revamps are nothing new in the Senate. We have had a number of reorganizations in the 10th Congress," Drilon pointed out. He recalled that previous reshuffles were marked by bitter recriminations and personal animosity, disrupting the legislative mill. "Wounds, of course, healed over time, but time is not on our side," Drilon said, saying they have only 42 days left before the 11th Congress adjourns.
Senators John Osmeña and Teresa Aquino-Oreta said they had originally planned to allow Drilon to keep his post. "But when he joined the (opposition) rallies and flashed the thumbs down sign publicly, we decided to act against him. We became convinced that his resignation from the majority stemmed not just from personal conviction, but from something else."
Guingona insisted that there was no compelling reason to change the Senate leadership at the moment, and expressed suspicions that it had something to do with the impending impeachment trial. Biazon said the people might not look kindly at the senators if they dilly-dallied on the Articles of Impeachment submitted by the House of Representatives.
"Nowadays, people are looking for a glimmer of hope that, in spite of the confusion that this crisis has brought to our country, institutions of principle still exists here in the midst of personal agenda and selfish motives," Biazon said.
"We need to rise to the occasion and show to the Filipino people and the world that the Senate is worthy of the honor and esteem that have been bestowed on it," he stressed. Enrile cautioned his colleagues against casting aspersions and ascribing motives on the revamp, saying every member of the chamber is an adult.
Enrile said the future actions of the new Senate leadership would belie all the innuendoes. Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago is set to take over chairmanship of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee vacated by Pimentel. The committee has yet to wind up its inquiry on the alleged direct involvement of the President in illegal gambling operations in the country as revealed by former political ally Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.
Santiago's takeover of the Blue Ribbon Committee alarmed Cayetano, incumbent chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights who co-presides over the hearings on the jueteng scandal. "I am afraid that the change would result in the shift of emphasis from the President to the alleged involvement of Singson in the illegal numbers game," Cayetano said.
This developed as Pimentel announced the cancellation of today's continuation of the committee hearings due to the lack of a chairman. During a majority caucus, the senators also decided to make a clearer definition of a Senate working committee. Santiago had a run-in with Singson after the governor alleged that her husband, Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Narciso Santiago Jr., wanted to become a jueteng operator.
Santiago has admitted that under her stewardship, the Blue Ribbon Committee would look into Singson's links to jueteng since the governor himself has publicly admitted being a bagman of the President with the jueteng operators.
She has also said the committee would drop its inquiry on the jueteng scandal after the Senate has received the Articles of Impeachment. "When that comes, the Blue Ribbon should start its investigation of Singson," she said. Enrile replaces Cayetano in the justice committee. Other changes involved Santiago as chairwoman of the committee on electoral reforms replacing Sen. Raul Roco, Enrile taking over the committee on government corporations and public enterprises from Santiago, and Sen. Sergio Osmeña III assuming the chairmanship of the committee on trade and commerce from Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.
John Osmeña also replaces Magsaysay as chairman of the committee on cooperatives, Biazon loses the committee on defense to Sen. Gregorio Honasan, and Sen. Robert Jaworski takes over the committee on urban planning from Biazon.
Estrada washes hands of Senate revamp
Mr. Estrada maintained that he had nothing to do with the reorganization in the Senate that came on the heels of Drilon's defection from LAMP. At the same time, the President expressed confidence he would be cleared in the impeachment trial "on the basis of truth and not partisan politics."
Mr. Estrada asserted that he did not have to exercise his rights as titular head of LAMP to cause the revamp in the Senate, or even in the House of Representatives. He also declared he was not bothered by the spate of defections from LAMP. In an interview with the CNN Asia, Mr. Estrada said; "Here in the Philippines, turncoatism or political opportunism is very common."
Belying allegations that Malacañang was trying to manipulate the results of the impeachment process, the President said he even called on his partymates in both chambers of the legislature to speed up the impeachment case.
"I am very comfortable that the truth will come out in the end," he stressed. Meanwhile, the Palace clarified there was nothing sinister in the steady stream of senators and congressmen visiting it even at midnight.
Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said the visits had nothing to do with the impeachment case. "When they come here, it's not for purposes of discussing any actions in regard to these changes in leadership (of Congress)," Puno said. — With Marichu Villanueva, Perseus Echeminada
November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada Impeached, by Jess Diaz,
A powerful bang of the gavel and history was made: President Estrada became the first leader of the Republic to be impeached by Congress yesterday. The House of Representatives' impeachment of Mr. Estrada set the stage for his trial at the Senate for alleged bribery, corruption, betrayal of public trust and violation of the Constitution.
The House gallery erupted with shouts of "Erap resign" followed by the singing of "Bayan Ko," prompting one pro-administration congressman to threaten the crowd later with arrest for rowdiness. Anti-Estrada legislators raised their fists and embraced each other, while the President's surprised allies vainly protested what they described as a breach in parliamentary procedure.
Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. swiftly moved to impeach the President after leading a traditional prayer as se-veral hundred pro- and anti-Estrada demonstrators protested outside the Batasang Pambansa building in Quezon City.
Without missing a beat, Villar segued into reading an order for the House secretary general "to immediately transmit to the Senate the impeachment complaint constituting the Articles of Impeachment" before striking the gavel to cut off any further debate. "It's official now that the impeachment rap is with the Senate," Villar said. "It's now up to the Senate to start the trial. We have indicted the President."
Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, constitutional successor to Mr. Estrada, described the House's impeachment of the President as "an act of bravery." "We respect Congress' independence. We just hope that this will not be used to derail what the people are hoping for," she told an anti- Estrada rally yesterday in her home province of Pampanga.
The entire process took only about seven minutes and the process caught by surprise the pro-Estrada legislators, who had vowed to unseat Villar as payback for his having bolted the ruling Lapian ng Masang Pilipino party 10 days ago. Villar stressed that the impeachment motion had already received a minimum number of 73 votes or a one-third majority in the 218-member House as required by the Constitution.
The House's task became "peremptory and ministerial" as its justice committee had already endorsed the impeachment motion on Nov. 6 after exhaustive debates, he said. "This is what the people have been waiting for," Villar said in a television interview after a recess. He defended the manner by which the charges were endorsed to the Senate, saying the demands of the Constitution were "higher than the House rules."
He said he expected the estranged allies to "question it" and "delay the election of the prosecution panel" from among the House members. "But in the end, we have done our job." The Speaker said he was sending the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and the rules of his chamber. Villar's masterstroke caught those plotting to oust him flatfooted. Many of them thought that the justice committee report was still part of his prayer.
One of the leaders of the oust-Villar group, Rep. Anthony Dequiña (LAMP, North Cotabato), described the procedure the Speaker followed in transmitting the complaint to the Senate as "defective and improper."
He said the Speaker cannot on his own do that and should have entertained a motion to approve the justice committee report and the transmittal. "We intend to question this in the proper forum, perhaps the courts," he said. Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo, who is with the pro-impeachment camp, said Villar was correct in saying that his job was only ministerial.
"The Speaker interpreted the Constitution correctly. Under Article XI of the Charter, an impeachment complaint or a resolution of endorsement signed by at least one-third of all House members shall be endorsed directly to the Senate in the same manner as an approved bill of the House," he said.
After suspending the session, Villar abandoned his podium, went down to the floor and relished the historic moment with cheers from the opposition and pro-impeachment congressmen led by Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City). The gallery, which was packed with an anti-Estrada crowd, broke into thunderous applause in victorious celebration of the impeachment process. Pro-impeachment congressmen joined the gallery in the singing of "Bayan Ko," while the President's allies watched in their seats helplessly. It was anarchy and mob rule abetted by Villar, complained Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella (LAMP, Camarines Sur), the candidate of the pro-Estrada group for the speakership.
Both Dequiña and Fuentebella belong to the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) wing of Mr. Estrada's LAMP. The NPC is led by Ambassador Ernesto Maceda and presidential friend and San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. Tempers also flared as Rep. Jose Mari Gonzalez of the President's hometown of San Juan, approached Bayani Fabic, a retired military officer and the House sergeant-at-arms, and without provocation, slapped and punched him.
Some pro-Estrada congressmen had earlier asked Fabic and his men to stop the gallery from applauding, but the House security personnel could not stop the anti-Estrada crowd. Apparently, Gonzalez took it against Fabic. During the suspension of session, other members of the anti-Villar group, including Reps. Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, Rodolfo Agbayani of Cagayan and Rodolfo Tuazon of Western Samar, shouted at the crowd through their session hall microphones to stop applauding and to respect House members. At one point, Tuazon asked that the gallery be cleared.
In his prayer entitled, "A Prayer for Light and Unity," Villar implored the Lord to "have mercy on our country and people in the midst of this great crisis, a crisis of leadership that reflects an erosion of people's confidence in their government; "A crisis of political confidence that is rending brother Filipinos against brother Filipinos; a crisis of economic confidence that is threatening to make the poor even poorer; a crisis of social confidence that is testing the strength of our democratic institutions."
For his colleagues who were plotting to oust him, he sought "strength to withstand the temptation of money and power, reject pressures of friends and family in order to discern right from wrong in as clear a manner as distinguishing light from dark."
Senate cannot act on impeach move
Senate Majority Leader Francisco Tatad said they cannot act immediately on the Articles of Impeachment because the Senate has not yet adopted the rules governing such a trial. "How can we act on the articles of impeachment if we have no rules governing its proceedings?" he asked.
Newly-elected Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. had filed a resolution calling for the adoption of a set of rules, while Sen. John Osmeña file a joint resolution seeking the adoption of rules on impeachment by both the House and Senate.
Tatad said the Senate committee on rules, which he heads, would hold public hearings on the rules before the plenary could adopt them. He has scheduled a hearing this morning. Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona said that it could take several days before the Senate can adopt the rules on impeachment proceedings. He and Sen. Renato Cayetano warned that this delay would prevent the Senate from performing the constitutional mandate for the chamber to act expeditiously on the Articles of Impeachment.
Guingona and Cayetano appealed to the chamber to maintain the leadership "because there is a greater need to heed the constitutional mandate on impeachment." Tatad, however, gave assurances that the Senate would act quickly on the rules and on the impeachment articles should they reach the chamber.
He also stressed that Congress should not be faulted for the late consideration of proposed rules. "We had never expected this to happen. In the entire history of Congress there were only three impeachment petitions filed, and none of them ever went beyond the committee," Tatad said.
Allegations by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson that Mr. Estrada accepted more than P400 million in payoffs from illegal gambling bosses and tobacco tax kickbacks have triggered widespread calls for his impeachment or resignation. Mr. Estrada has acknowledged having been offered a bribe by the governor, but insists he refused it. – With Efren Danao, AP, AFP
November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada knew about millions Serapio, by Perseus Echeminada,
President Estrada, facing impeachment for alleged corruption, knew as early as August that gambling bosses funneled millions of pesos into the bank account of a charitable foundation for Muslim youths, his lawyer Edward Serapio told a Senate inquiry yesterday.
Serapio's testimony appeared to contradict Mr. Estrada's public statements last week that he only learned about the suspected bribes last month when Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson went public. The opposition has accused Mr. Estrada of laundering P200 million from jueteng operators through the banking system. The charge is part of an impeachment case against Mr. Estrada.
Serapio, Mr. Estrada's personal lawyer at the time the donations were made and who remains corporate secretary of the foundation, said Mr. Estrada "took me to task" when he learned the money had come from Singson. "The President was angry, he was disappointed," Serapio told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which is investigating the alleged gambling payoffs.
"I just apologized and explained to him that I never even suspected" the funds were actually jueteng payoffs, he said. Singson turned against Mr. Estrada last month, accusing him of setting up a system to collect jueteng kickbacks for himself and receiving P414 million from gambling bosses between November 1998 and August 2000.
Singson alleged that Serapio had laundered nearly half the bribes through the banking system while Singson himself personally delivered the balance in bags of cash to Mr. Estrada every 15 days. Serapio said Yolanda Ricaforte, who is Singson's aide, delivered six managers' checks on April 13 and 14, a few days before Mr. Estrada's 63rd birthday, with instructions to place them in an "interim account" before they were to be "transferred to the foundation account on a staggered basis."
Outgoing Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. told reporters that Mr. Estrada's emerging defense strategy appears to revolve on the premise that "the actions of the President and the actions of the foundation are two different things." Serapio testified that the President told him "in late August" that the donation was "likely to have come from jueteng."
Mr. Estrada "urged us to return the money to Governor Singson," he added. Serapio said three of the trustees of the foundation later met informally and resolved "not to touch the money" which he said "should be subject to confiscation and forfeiture by the State and should not be returned to Governor Singson."
However, the trustees made no effort to verify the source of the funds and Serapio did not advise Mr. Estrada that he could be held liable for bribery even if he did not directly get the money. "We did not discuss provisions on bribery, whether direct or indirect," he said. He said Mr. Estrada's "commitment to developing a new generation of leaders" from the Muslim minority was the "inspiration" for the charity, which plans to award postgraduate scholarships abroad to Muslim college graduates.
Mr. Estrada's brother-in-law, retired UP chancellor Raul de Guzman, organized the charity in January and remains its chairman, Serapio said. He said he informed Mr. Estrada of the donation in August after the trustees decided to "offer to the President to accept the position of chairman emeritus."
Meanwhile, the President clarified that the charitable group for Muslim youths is not in any way his own foundation. "This is a Muslim youth foundation and it's a legitimate foundation and that is not mine," he told CNN's Asia news edition. He added that the P200-million money deposited in an account of this group was placed there "without my knowledge."
In a separate interview by CNBC-Asia, Mr. Estrada said his conscience is clear that he never received a single centavo from jueteng. In a related development, a group of lawyers accused anti-Estrada senators of "browbeating" Serapio. Lawyer Rey Bagatsing, head of the Philippine Anti- Graft Crusaders Inc., said these senators "bamboozled Serapio… to muddle the facts in connection with the jueteng scandal."
He identified these senators as Renato Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Raul Roco and Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. Bagatsing said these senators tried to mix up the facts because Serapio's testimony corroborated Mr. Estrada's position that he was not aware of the P200-million donation to the foundation.
"These opposition senators were not concerned with ferrying out the truth in this case," he said. "They were engaged in bullying tactics to harass and confuse Serapio and mix up the facts." The group also accused Mr. Estrada's political enemies of forum shopping when they bared plans of filing a criminal complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Bagatsing said that by bringing the jueteng case there, proponents of the impeachment complaint have virtually admitted that their case is weak and will likely be routed in the Senate trial. He told the united opposition to review the law because they very well know that any President is immune from suits during his or her incumbency.
If this case prospers at the Ombudsman, he said this will set a "dangerous precedent" because future presidents will be vulnerable to nuisance cases during their respective incumbencies. The Penal Code prescribes prison terms for public officials found guilty of taking bribes except the President, who cannot be sued while in office. But his removal from office would leave him exposed to possible criminal prosecution afterwards.
In other developments yesterday, a group of Muslim students asked Mr. Estrada not to use them as "scapegoats to cover your greediness in soliciting dirty money from jueteng lords." Amirah Ali Lidasan, spokesperson for the Moro Christian People's Alliance (MCPA), also challenged the Chief Executive to produce a Muslim student who is a beneficiary of the foundation. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Sandy Araneta, AFP
November 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Stocks fall sharply as investors await results of impeachment move, by Conrado M. Diaz Jr.,
Stocks tumbled yesterday on lack of an expected follow-through buying by the government financial institutions (GFIs), as fidgety investors returned to the sidelines as they await the progress of the impeachment move against President Estrada in Congress. The 30-company composite index dropped 33.01 points or 2.22 percent to 1455.94 while the broader All-Shares barometer slipped by a marginal 0.28 percent to 739.54 due to the pullback in Canadian insurance giants Sun Life and Manulife.
The negative mood prevailed in practically all sub-sectors, with only the mining counter ending flat, as only 90 issues were traded during the day. Decliners swamped gainers, 55 to 12, with the remaining 24 stocks unchanged. Value turnover likewise thinned down to P694.740 million, from P857.661 million last Friday.
The regional Factors also weighted down on local stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial and tech-heavy Nasdaq indices tumbled last Friday over the uncertainty in the outcome of the US Presidential elections, dragging down with them the markets in Asia including the Philippines.
In addition, the planned nationwide strike today by a wide latitude of groups seeking the oustex of President Estrada further dampened market sentiment, as even trading is expected to grind to a half.
Although the trading halt is not sanctioned by PSE officials, they are not going against it either. Reportedly, sympathetic brokers participating in the strike will take a forced 15-minute break in trading – from 11:30 to 11:45 this morning – when deals are usually at their peak.
Too, the stream of mostly disappointing corporate earnings reports as of the third quarter has hammered even blue chips stocks, most of which either went further in the red or stayed flat. Telecom giant PLDT, which reported an 82- percent reduction in its nine-month profits, was the heaviest traded stock cornering 35.1 percent of total transactions. However, its price fell P30 to P815. The First Pacific-controlled company yesterday said there are ongoing exploratory talks between PLDT and the local exchange carrier (LEC) or landline business of Bayentel, its counterpart from the Lopez group for a "potential business collaboration," along with their respective cable TV operators Home Cable and Sky Cable.
But PLDT denied it or any of its companies hold any investment in GMA Network, the rival media station of ABS-CBN, hence discounting any three- way merger discussions that would allegedly spawn the biggest media and telecoms network in the country. Shares of ABS-CBN, one of the few firms whose net earnings posted double-digit gains this year, went down 50 centavos to P51 while its EDR issue slid P1 to P49.50.
November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, RP, US panels finalize report on military aid, by Paolo Romero
United States military assistance to the Philippines is expected to go on full-blast early next year as panels of both countries are expected to release soon their recommendations and assessment of the military requirements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said yesterday.
Mercado said the Joint Defense Assessment group will have its final meeting this month in the US and is expected to present its final report by mid-December.
"With that (report), it would be easier for us and for them to determine what type of assistance, specifically equipment, the Philippines can avail itself of," he said.
The Joint Defense Assessment group met at least four times this year. It was formed after the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty was "revived" following the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
US Defense Secretary William Cohen, in a letter shortly before the US presidential elections, informed Mercado that with the group's assessment in its final stage, "we can establish priorities on necessary resources."
"I am fully confident that our shared values and common security objectives will contribute to a close defense relationship in the years to come," Cohen said.
"Our strong and expanding security relationship is. . . important," he said.
The United States can deliver military assistance to the AFP under its "excess defense articles" program.
US President Bill Clinton promised to deliver helicopters, spare parts for C-130 cargo planes and a patrol boat to the AFP during President Estrada's visit to Washington early this year.
During Cohen's visit to the country days before the AFP launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, he proposed the setting up of an AFP counter-terrorist strike force which will receive training and equipment assistance from the US.
November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Moro rebels abduct 6 in Basilan village, by Roel Pareño,
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels abducted six people, including a 10-year-old boy, who were harvesting coconuts in a remote village in Basilan yesterday, police said.
The farmers were seized in the village of Upper Colonia in the Basilan town of Lamitan, police said. Reports reaching the military said MILF guerrillas led by one Sakpar Yacub were behind the kidnapping.
Yacub said they do not intend to demand any ransom, but told the military to stop its operation in the Sampinit complex or else they will harm their captives. Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya, chief of the Army's 1st Infantry Division, identified the kidnap victims as Jose Dara-og, 36, his wife Gina, 45; Ignacio Flores Jr., 46, his son Arnold, 10; Felix Acasa, 56; and Roland Forbido, 30.
A police team, accompanied by militiamen, was trying to locate the farmers, police officials said. Suspected rebels also abducted a teacher, Leticia Pascual, and her three children aged 6 to 9 in Barangay Lumbang in Isabela, Basilan's capital, last week. Police said the abductors were Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. Two of the children were later released.
The military is continuing a massive offensive against the rebels on the nearby island of Sulu, where the Abu Sayyaf are holding American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah hostage. A military spokesman, Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias, said four more rebels and a soldier were killed in separate clashes over the weekend in Sulu.
Government troops are also investigating at least 48 people aboard an outrigger boat who possessed unlicensed guns when they were stopped by soldiers last Sunday, he said. Abu Sayyaf rebels took scores of foreign and Filipino hostages starting in March but have freed most of them in exchange for more than $15 million in ransom, officials said. — Roel Pareño
November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Day of protest presses Estrada's ouster,
In a rare display of solidarity for a common cause, stock dealers walked out of their jobs, employers joined their workers, while teachers and school administrators suspended classes to be with their students in yesterday's general strike meant to force President Estrada to step down.
Leftist groups also linked up with church-based organizations in staging protest marches and rallies as drivers and operators of mass transport systems agreed not to ply their routes.
Even environmentalists held an emergency meeting to adopt a formal stand against the Estrada administration which they blamed for the alleged continued degradation of the country's natural resources. Many business establishments also closed while attendance was low in offices that were open.
Several government offices were forced to declare a half-day work to enable their employees to reach home early. Security was tightened at Malacañang with the Presidential Security Group beefed up by at least six busloads of crack policemen.
Road blocks were also set up on streets leading to the Palace. Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora described the general strike as "a mistake," but admitted the government could not do anything to prevent it. Members of the influential Makati Business Club led by Guillermo Luz merged with the strikers, among them members of the leftist groups Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and Sanlakas.
Scores of traders, wearing black arm bands or black sashes, walked out of the Makati and Ortigas bourses, clapping their hands and chanting "Erap resign" The walkout caused stocks to fall, like the yellow confetti that rained down from high rises at the country's premier financial district in support of a protest march to press the President's ouster.
"If he is not going to resign, the market will continue to go down," said Romer Tan, one of about 100 stockbrokers who joined the hour-long walkout. "It's about time that we drive the message to the President." Stockbroker Paul Aquino said their position is for Mr. Estrada "to do fast– resign," adding that impeachment may take a long time.
At the Ortigas business complex in Pasig City, about 1,000 businessmen and employees, many in business suits, joined the rally. They used a laptop computer to send an e-mail message to the President urging him to "make the supreme sacrifice that will get the country back on the road to recovery."
At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, police attempted to stop a protest by employees of the national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL). A similar standoff occurred at the South Luzon Expressway in Carmona, Cavite where policemen in full battle gear intercepted a group of protesters on their way to Manila aboard some 40 jeepneys.
The lawmen backed off, however, when leaders of the strikers from the southern provinces of Laguna, Quezon, and Batangas threatened to hale them to court. The "Welgang Bayan" came a day after the House of Representatives passed an impeachment complaint against Mr. Estrada. Separate groups of protesters paraded toward Malacañang, along Ayala Avenue in Makati City, or staged a rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio.
Among the prominent personalities who attended the rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio were former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr., former Transportation and Communications undersecretary Josefina Lichauco, former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman Richard Gordon and his wife, Olongapo City Mayor Kate Gordon, singer Cynthia Patag and the so-called Spice Boys at the House of Representatives who all belong to the opposition.
Police forces across the country were placed on red alert to prevent any trouble, but were under instructions to observe maximum tolerance. Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay, head of the National Capital Region Police Office, said there were no reports of any untoward incident "and we are congratulating the organizers for that." The protesters included members of militant and leftist groups, labor unions, transport workers and employees of large corporations.
An unusual alliance of left-wing workers and conservative businessmen expressed support for the strike. Vicky Garchitorena, spokeswoman for the Congress of the Filipino People (Kompil) which spearheaded the protest action, said Mr. Estrada has lost the "moral authority to govern" after he was impeached by the House on corruption charges, paving the way for his possible ouster pending trial at the Senate.
Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, constitutional successor of Mr. Estrada, and Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, have expressed full support for the strike. In a statement, Sin urged the protesters to exercise calm and sobriety. "As I recognize the right of our countrymen to express their outrage at the immorality in public office, let me also take this occasion to remind them that such freedom must be tempered with order. The truth must be told, but always in charity," the prelate said.
He said strikes "must be exercised responsibly within the context of law and order all the time." Arroyo and Sin, along with former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos and key opposition leaders, were among those calling for the President to vacate his post following charges that Mr. Estrada pocketed more than P400 million in jueteng payoffs.
Accusations by estranged presidential ally Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson triggered a deluge of calls for the President to relinquish his position.
Strike spreads like wildfire
The general strike to force Mr. Estrada's resignation swept across the country, paralyzing trade and commerce in some 30 cities nationwide. Most multinational corporations at the Calabarzon industrial area in the Southern Tagalog region also allowed their workers to stage a one-hour work stoppage.
BMP president Victor Briz said some 200,000 workers left their posts, prompting their plants, 200 of them in Metro Manila, to shut down. Among these factories were Fortune Tobacco, Gelmart Industries, Novelty Philippines, Honda Philippines, the Duty Free shops, Republic Asahi Glass, Manila Bay Spinning Mills, Wrangler, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and PAL.
BMP leaders said bigger protest actions would be held in the next few weeks. Banks and airports, however, functioned normally, although seaport operations were minimally affected. "Many schools were closed," Reuters reported.
Among them were the state-run University of the Philippines (UP), Miriam College, St. Mary's Academy, Philippine Normal College, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippine Christian University and De La Salle University.
By about 9 a.m., the University Belt in Sampaloc, Manila which is just a stone's throw away from Malacañang, was already teeming with students for the march to the Liwasang Bonifacio where a rally was held in the afternoon.
Leaders of the College Editors' Guild of the Philippines, the Movement for the Advancement of Student Power and the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines took turns lambasting Mr. Estrada for clinging on to his seat.
In a joint statement, the student groups expressed their "vehement outrage and resentment against a despotic and vindictive leader who has disregarded the interest of the broad masses particularly the youth in the name of his populist rhetoric of being for the poor."
UP professor Carol Almeda, president of the militant Alliance of Concerned Teachers, said the people now want Mr. Estrada to resign. "This is the expression of the people's will to pressure the illegal occupant of Malacañang to step down. He is always saying that he was elected by the people. We the people now revoke that mandate," she said.
"This is a show of our conviction. The people do not trust the President anymore. We will continue attending these rallies until we pressure him to resign," said 29-year-old protester Jonathan Suarez. Other groups that participated in the strike were Kilusang Mayo Uno, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, the League of Filipino students, Bayan Muna, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, GABRIELA, the Rise All Government Employees Against Estrada (RAGE), and the Code RED (Resign Erap Dali).
An estimated 50,000 people gathered at the Liwasang Bonifacio, while some 10,000 others joined the mass action in Makati.
Former Mandaluyong City mayor Benjamin Abalos and Pasig City Vice Mayor Lorna Bernardo led some 1,000 protesters in a march toward Makati. At least 30 factories in Cebu City stopped operations as their workers joined the one-day strike. About 70 percent of public transport in the cities of General Santos, Davao and Cotabato in Mindanao was paralyzed.
In Butuan City, a boisterous crowd of some 10,000 people consisting of religious workers, farmers, fishermen, students, urban and rural poor, women, labor and academe held a rally at the city square. Placard-bearing marchers chanting "Erap babaero, lasengero, resign na" caused monstrous traffic jams. All Catholic schools in Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces suspended classes to allow their students and faculty to join the protest action. Other areas hit by the strike were the cities of Tacloban, Zamboanga, Angeles, Santiago, Tarlac, Legazpi, Iloilo, Bacolod, and the province of Bulacan.
— Jose Rodel Clapano, Mike Frialde, Jaime Laude, Marichu Villanueva, Sheila Crisostomo, Nestor Etolle, Non Alquitran, Rey Arquiza, Sandy Araneta, Pia Lee-Brago, Mathew Estabillo, Pete Laude, Marvin Sy, Allen Estabillo, Rene Alviar, Charlie Lagasca, Ben Serrano, Teddy Molina, Cet Dematera, Antonieta Lopez, Leo Solinap, Edith Regalado, Celso Amo, Benjie Villa, Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu, Philip Ting, Roel Pareño, Lito Salatan, Jess Mananghaya, Freeman News Service, other wire services
November 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada's impeachment trial starts December,
After much hand-wringing and teeth gnashing, President Estrada's allies in both chambers of Congress decided yesterday they would no longer question the manner of his impeachment or replace the congressmen chosen to prosecute him.
This paves the way for the President's trial starting next month, newly elected Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said as he pledged a speedy and impartial hearing. Pimentel, who is seen as an independent-minded Estrada ally, said the Senate's committee on rules had been asked to finish by Monday the drafting of rules for the country's first impeachment trial of a President.
Officials said they would use US impeachment rules as a general guideline. "I think realistically, we can start hearings in December. If this is done every day, Mondays to Saturdays, then we will finish everything by end December," Pimentel told radio station dzMM.
"I believe it should be finished in the soonest possible time," he said. Pimentel, who was elected Senate chief on Monday and took over from Franklin Drilon who bolted Mr. Estrada's ruling Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) coalition, said the trial should be conducted in a "fair and impartial" manner by allowing both prosecutors and Mr. Estrada's defense team to adequately present their side.
"That is the process, we will hear the evidence and the Senate will decide guilty or not guilty," said Pimentel. The House of Representatives on Monday impeached Mr. Estrada on charges of corruption, betrayal of public trust, accepting bribes and culpable violation of the Constitution.
The charges are based on accusations by former presidential friend and drinking buddy, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, that Mr. Estrada received more than P400 million in payoffs from illegal gambling bosses and kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes. The President has denied the accusations, but recently admitted that he knew tainted money intended as bribes had been deposited in a bank account owned by a charitable foundation he created for Muslim scholars.
Mr. Estrada earlier vowed to answer "point by point" all the charges during the Senate trial and expressed confidence that he would be cleared by the administration-controlled Senate which will act as jury. A majority of two- thirds, or 15 votes, of the 22-member Senate is needed to oust Mr. Estrada from office.
Senate Majority Leader Francisco Tatad, who is also the chairman of the Senate's committee on rules, had filed a resolution seeking the adoption of the US model for the impeachment rules with minor alterations to suit the local setting, news reports said. Tatad said he would call for a hearing first "to get the input of House managers and lawyers of Mr. Estrada" on how the proceedings should go.
Tatad noted that there were still contentious issues to be resolved first to ensure the smooth conduct of the hearing. The hearings will start today and would come out with a report next week. He said they have invited former Senate President Jovito Salonga, veteran constitutionalist and former Sen. Arturo Tolentino, former Constitutional Commissioner Fr. Joaquin Bernas, UP Law dean Merlin Magallona, Supreme Court Administrator Alfredo Benipayo, the 11-member panel of prosecutors from the House and lawyers of Mr. Estrada.
Pimentel has pledged a speedy and impartial trial "to put to rest the emotional conflict and the disturbing dissension that are being fueled by the accusation of presidential corruption and misconduct." "As senators, we will do everything possible within our command to demonstrate that our democracy works and that there is no room in this country for the adoption of extralegal measures to obtain redress of the grievances of the people," he said.
The Senate will sit as a jury, with about 11 legislators from the House acting as prosecution. The trial will be presided over by Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide.
Estrada to be exonerated?
A majority of the senators are seen to be close to Mr. Estrada, but they will have to vote by their conscience, analysts said. Thirteen of the 22 senators voted on Monday to topple Drilon as Senate chief and teach him a lesson for deserting the coalition party. At first glance, analysts said this voting pattern indicates that Mr. Estrada may survive removal from office as only eight senators are needed among the 22 to exonerate him in the upcoming Senate trial.
"But this is not purely a numbers game as the senators will have to vote according to their conscience and decide whether the President is fit to govern," said Carolina Hernandez, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines. She said the senators could not vote on party lines alone as they would face retribution from the electorate "if their actions are seen to be in violation of the Constitution and public trust."
Pimentel assured that the 13-6 vote he got in unseating Drilon should not be taken as a signal on how the Senate would vote on an impeachment trial. "There is no relation between the two. The impeachment of the President will depend on the strength of the evidence," he said. Malacañang, for its part, said the President does not worry himself about the so-called "numbers game" in the Senate on who would vote for or against his impeachment.
"We can't speculate. All I can say is, when all the senators sit (in he impeachment trial), they sit as judges. Maybe numbers are not all that important at this time," Press Secretary Ricardo Puno said, while admitting the Palace was "heartened" with Pimentel's vow to ensure impartiality in the proceedings.
Unlike legislators from the House of Representatives who are elected by districts, the senators are elected nationally, just like the President and the Vice President. This gives them a greater independence from the executive department.
"In a desperate moment like this one, our people desperately want to believe in our institutions. If our institutions fail us now, there will be great trouble ahead," warned political commentator Alex Magno. He said although hard to prove, rumors that large amounts of money were being used to influence alignments of the House and Senate "throw a serious cloud of doubt" on their independence and integrity.
"We are looking at a very profound crisis of leadership shaken by public concerns over corruption and cronyism," he said. Two senators, John Osmeña and Tessie Aquino-Oreta who were allegedly given P1 million each as tips from Mr. Estrada's gambling session winnings, were forced to turn over the money to the Senate last month during a hearing of illegal gambling payoffs scandal.
The impeachment trial is not a criminal case. The Senate can question the witness but members, unlike court judges, are not bound by the requirement of establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt. They only need a "preponderance of evidence" to convict him. The influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged senators to "vote according to the dictates of your conscience" and warned of "massive protest actions" if the trial was "manipulated."
"Do not stifle the voice of your conscience for the sake of any favor, money or power that might be offered to you," said CBCP president Orlando Quevedo. He said rumors about the P100 million bribe each for senators who would exonerate Mr. Estrada is already "a reflection of the people's mistrust and lack of confidence in the government."
In a related development, a human rights lawyer, who had been asked to assist the 11-member panel of prosecutors, said the people should have no illusions that the Senate trial will prosper. "From the very start, it was clear that Mr. Estrada's allies at the House and the Senate would try to derail the process," Romeo Capulong said. "Now the President is making sure he gets seven hard-core senators who will vote in his favor," he said.
He said these senators include Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Francisco Tatad, Gregorio Honasan, Blas Ople, Juan Ponce Enrile and John Osmeña. He did not name the seventh senator, but said it will only take such a number to lose the impeachment case.
"This is the reason why … I am not giving you any updates about the proceedings. I am here complaining to you about the efforts of Mr. Estrada to protect himself from being impeached," he told a rally. The Federation of Free Workers also shared the same view, noting that the ouster of Speaker Manuel Villar and Drilon was "a clear manifestation that the Palace wants to control the impeachment proceedings."
For her part, Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo asked pro-Estrada lawmakers to stop delaying the impeachment case by citing technicalities and procedural flaws. "Technicality is not in the Constitution," she said. "Those who cite technicality will be the ones violating the Constitution."
Meanwhile, Villar said prolonging the impeachment case "would only cause divisiveness among Filipinos and sink the economy further." "We in the House have done our part and we hope the Senate will do the same. The ball is now in their court," he said. For their part, Reps. Prospero Pichay (Surigao del Sur) and Eduardo Veloso (Leyte) asked the people to refrain from conducting further mass actions and just await for the results of the Senate trial.
Veloso said such destabilization efforts "will further undermine the economy, and it will not just be the pro- or anti-Estrada forces who will suffer but the entire country as well." – Efren, Danao, Perseus Echeminada, Liberty Dones, Sandy Araneta, Romel Bagares, Jose Rodel Clapano, Jose Aravilla, Antonieta Lopez, Teddy Molina, Marichu Villanueva, AFP
November 16, 2000, The Philippine Star, 7 Sayyaf rebels killed,
ZAMBOANGA CITY – At least seven Abu Sayyaf rebels holding an American and a Filipino hostage in Sulu were killed and 10 others surrendered as soldiers continued their operation to rescue the captives, officials said yesterday.
One Abu Sayyaf member was killed when a government patrol clashed with a rebel band in a remote village in Panglima Estino town early Wednesday, police said. There were no other casualties reported following a brief gunfight, said Sulu provincial police chief Candido Casimiro.
Casimiro also said four Abu Sayyaf members surrendered to Panglima Estino Mayor Abas Estino and another six to the police. Last Tuesday, soldiers engaged the rebels in a running gunbattle in the jungles of Talipao, Sulu, leaving six Abu Sayyaf members dead. One soldier was wounded, said local Army spokesman Capt. Charlemagne Batayola.
The rebels are still holding American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah hostage. In a radio interview the other day, Schilling, 24, said the Abu Sayyaf rebels holding him traveled at night to escape pursuing military troops. He said no doctors were available to treat his infected leg and he had no more medicine.
He said he was becoming "less and less optimistic everyday." Brig. Gen. Generoso Senga, Armed Forces spokesman, said the Abu Sayyaf's strength has dwindled from about 300 to 400 members before the hostage crisis to only 75 hardcore combatants since the military launched its offensive last Sept. 16. Earlier, Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes said they are planning to reduce the military's presence in Sulu as the situation has stabilized. About 4,000 soldiers are involved in the offensive. Senga said they are optimistic the military can end its crackdown before the end of December. — Roel Pareño, Paolo Romero and AP
November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, Anti-Estrada rallyists clash with Subic guards,
CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga -- Violence erupted at the Subic Freeport when anti-Estrada rallyists tried to enter the gates of the special economic zone but were repulsed by security personnel last Friday.
Reports reaching the regional police headquarters here said about 500 rallyists, among them city officials and employees, barangay leaders and vendors, reportedly wanted to enter the freeport to disrupt operations.
But security forces of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority blocked them, triggering a violent confrontation. The rallyists reportedly threw stones, sticks and other material at the guards who, in turn, were forced to fight back.
A guard, identified as Conrado Medina, and People's Journal correspondent Jhonny Reblando were injured in the confrontation.
Policemen who were dispatched to the scene pacified the rallyists.
In other developments:
-- Pangasinenses stepped up their anti-Estrada campaign with a motorcade rally dubbed "Sakay ng Bayan Laban Kay Erap (Sakbayan)" yesterday, stopping over for at least 15 minutes in each town in the province's central and western sections.
The Church-led motorcade, spearheaded by the oust-Estrada coalition AGCO (local word for reject), was capped by a huge rally at the town plaza of Lingayen.
Another motorcade rally covering Pangasinan's central and eastern portions will be held on Nov. 25.
While yesterday's Sakbayan transpired, the provincial information office issued a statement that 43 town mayors have signed a manifesto of support for President Estrada. But reporters were refused a copy of said manifesto.
Several mayors, however, said they were forced to sign the manifesto to facilitate the release of their respective internal revenue allotments which have been delayed for two months now.
Fourth district Rep. Benjamin Lim, one of the anti-Estrada rally leaders, said they are unperturbed by reports that the government would go after activists.
"They should observe and watch us. The more we will become aggressive. We will continue opposing (Mr. Estrada) because of his wrongdoings. There is nothing wrong about our rallies because we are just informing the people about the issues," Lim said.
-- In a pastoral letter, Palo, Leyte Archbishop Pedro Rosales Dean renewed his call for Mr. Estrada's resignation.
"It is indeed a fact that what's happening to us is not just shameful and embarrassing. It cries to High Heavens, for it is an insult to the truth, justice and holiness of God who commands us," the archbishop stated in the pastoral letter which will be read in the Palo archdiocese today. -- Ric Sapnu, Eva de Leon and Sandy Araneta
November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF fugitives gird for attacks,
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — A notorious kidnapper, who along with 67 other inmates escaped from this city's jail in a daring attack by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels last Nov. 7, has formally allied himself with the separatist guerrillas for stepped-up attacks on urban centers in the Socsargen area.
Maj. Sam Deles, spokesman of the Army's 601st Infantry Brigade, cited intelligence reports that at least 20 of the escapees have joined the fugitive kidnapper, Tahir Alonto, to form an MILF "urban force" for attacks in South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos, which comprise the Socsargen area.
This developed as six people were wounded in grenade explosions near a public market in Carmen, North Cotabato, and in a piggery farm in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. The North Cotabato blast was believed to be the MILF's handiwork.
Deles said Alonto is now under the command of Ustadz Kahar of the MILF's 204th Brigade, and that his "urban force" initially plans to launch bomb attacks and burn vital establishments here, like the City Hall and the Hall of Justice complex. The terrorist plan was corroborated by murder suspect Gilbert Bacasmo, who was turned in by his lawyer and relatives yesterday.
Bacasmo, the 34th escapee recaptured in the past two weeks, said the attacks in this city were hatched even before the jailbreak. Deles said the 20 escapees who joined Alonto's "urban force" were converted to the Islamic faith while inside the city jail. Alonto and the MILF rebels, according to Bacasmo, also discussed their terrorist plans in a hideout somewhere in the mountains of Barangay Basag, T'boli, South Cotabato.
Bacasmo said the MILF rebels forced him to escape, and that he managed to slip away when Alonto's group clashed with government troops in Barangay Basag early this week. T'boli Mayor Dad Tuan said at least 17 MILF rebels, some of them believed to be escapees, were killed in the clashes. Citing reports, Tuan said Alonto's group has left T'boli and is now in Sultan Kudarat on their way to Maguindanao. Deles confirmed that Alonto had executed former aide and fellow escapee Ismael Mutalib for alleged treacherous acts. Mutalib and Alonto were arrested last year for the kidnapping of the Cavalida brothers of Davao del Sur.
Grenade blasts
Three people were wounded in two separate grenade explosions that rocked Isulan, Sultan Kudarat Friday night, Senior Superintendent Agapito Salvador, provincial police director, said. The first blast happened at about 10 p.m. on the premises of a piggery farm, about 600 meters from the public market. Wounded were Nora Malicudio, 30; Romulo Balquin, 17; and Jordan Nambong, 10.
A certain Rolando Tabligan was arrested and admitted having thrown the grenade after a fight with his wife. But an earlier investigation showed that residents, who have been complaining about the stench from the piggery, could have been behind the blast. About 40 minutes later, Salvador said another grenade went off at the Isulan public cemetery.
At least four explosions, most of them blamed on the MILF, have rocked Isulan in the past three weeks. Earlier, two children were killed and eight people were wounded when a fragmentation grenade exploded in a crowded Muslim neighborhood in Purok Masagana, Barangay Kalawag II.
Two rifle grenades were fired at the public market and another exploded near the town's police station and the mayor's office, killing one person and injuring four others. In North Cotabato, three persons, including a 74-year- old man, were wounded when a time bomb, believed planted by MILF guerrillas, went off in front of a house beside the central public market in Carmen town.
Col. Hermogenes Esperon, chief of the Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade, identified the victims as Federico Cabilando, 50, his wife Virginia, 46, and Antolio Francisco, 74. The timebomb could have been aimed at the public market but was placed instead in a trash bin in front of the house of the Cabalindo family because of the heavy presence of soldiers and policemen in the market. — With Roel Pareño and John Unson
November 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, Safeguards eyed for ceasefire with MILF,
As part of its efforts to woo the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) back to the negotiating table, the government is drawing up safeguards for a prospective ceasefire with the rebel group. National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre said these measures should help remove some of the irritants that have hounded peace efforts between the two sides in the past.
"The effectivity of the ceasefire has to be mutually agreed upon, with effective mechanisms to prevent violations," Aguirre said. He reiterated the government's optimism that once the fine-tuning of the government's peace strategy falls into place, the peace talks with the MILF can resume.
The government discussed its peace strategy with the MILF during the meeting of the full membership of the National Security Council (NSC) in Malacañang last Nov. 6. Aguirre said these fine-tuning measures include Muslim participation in the peace process and third-party mediation.
"We will reconstitute the government peace panel to become very effective. We will include in the process Muslim local executives, governors and mayors so the Muslims are adequately represented," he said. Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari will be tapped as panel adviser, he noted.
Aguirre also said the government is likely to offer a ceasefire to the MILF, although the mechanisms have to be drawn up so violations could be minimized. The NSC, he said, also decided to allow third-party mediation to comply with the MILF's request for such a move. Earlier, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) indicated that it is willing to mediate in the peace process. All these initiatives, Aguirre said, should show the MILF that the government remains sincere in maintaining peace and order in Mindanao.
November 20, 2000, The Philippine Star, GMA set to kick off Mindanao drive vs Estrada, by Edith Regalado,
DAVAO CITY – Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will go to Mindanao tomorrow to start a campaign calling for the resignation of President Estrada over the much publicized jueteng payoff scandal. Former Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza said Arroyo is expected to arrive in this city tomorrow morning to meet with local leaders who have been waiting for her visit since last month.
"She will come here purposely to hold consultations and explain to the people here why the President should resign," Dureza said. Arroyo will also meet with various groups, including non-government organizations and Church groups, particularly those affiliated with the Erap Resign Movement, a coalition urging the President to step down.
She is also scheduled to meet with the Kusog Mindanao Foundation which will present what it calls as an "alternative development agenda" for Mindanao. The foundation is hopeful that the Vice President would use their alternative agenda as her blueprint in addressing the problems besetting the country's second largest island. The Vice President was earlier invited along with former President Corazon Aquino to a prayer rally to be held today at the Villa del Sol complex in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, who is organizing the rally, said he expects some 50,000 people to attend and join in praying for peace and stability in the country. Dubbed as the "Ecumenical Prayer Rally for President Estrada to make the Supreme Sacrifice," the event is expected to draw participants from other religious groups such as Methodists, members of the Iglesia ni Cristo and Islamic communities in the province.
Aquino will also be skipping the prayer rally because of a prior commitment. On Wednesday, however, she will be visiting schools in her home province of Tarlac to urge people to join the call for the President to step down.
Meanwhile, with top government officials admitting that they are closely monitoring what's being said in rallies against the President, militant groups have become cautious in passing information among their ranks. In Tarlac, for example, leaders of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan now opt for cellular phones with text-messaging capabilities to avoid being monitored by authorities. – With Ric Sapnu, Benjie Villa, Rene Alviar
November 21, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military ultimatum forces Sayyaf to free tutor, 2 kids,
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Abu Sayyaf freed unharmed a public school teacher and two of her children they abducted in Basilan last Nov. 6, after government troops issued an ultimatum, the military said.
The military identified the victims as Leciticia Pascual and her children Vincent, 6, and Mary Grace, 9. The three were freed last Saturday in a remote village in Sumisip, Basilan, 12 days after they were snatched, the military said.
The troops told the Abu Sayyaf extremists to either release the captives or face large-scale military assault, according to Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command.
"The bandits were given an ultimatum to free the hostages," Atendido said.
He said troops have nevertheless been ordered to hunt down the rebels, whose comrades in nearby Sulu island are also under siege from a military assault to rescue American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah.
The two are the only remaining captives from a kidnapping spree by the extremists early this year.
Pascual and four of her children were kidnapped by about 60 rebels under the command of one Isnilon Hapilon from their home in Kumalarang, Isabela, Basilan early this month.
But the rebels later abandoned her two children, Jeffrey, 5, and Anoy, 3, who were subsequently recovered by the police.
Pascual said their kidnappers brought them to Upper Balwas and left them in the custody of a certain Munap Api.
1 rebel slain, 3 captured
In other developments, military troops tracking down the two remaining hostages killed an Abu Sayyaf rebel in a clash in the jungle of Patikul, Sulu, while three extremists were captured in separate operations in
Zamboanga City.
The military said elements of the 77th Infantry Battalion encountered 10 followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron on Mt. Awak in Patikul, triggering a firefight.
Col. Juvenal Narcise, Zamboanga Task Force commander, said elements of the Military Intelligence Group-Region 9 and the National Bureau of Investigation collared Abu Sayyaf members Hashim Unga and Mohammad Ali Amirul Unga at a checkpoint in Upper Calarian this city last Tuesday.
The third rebel, Rizal Unga, a relative of the two, was arrested two days later.
Hashim and Mohammad, according to Narcise, admitted taking part of the ransom money amassed by the Abu Sayyaf during the hostage crisis.
Military intelligence sources said the Abu Sayyaf amassed more than P245 million in ransom in exchange for the release of three Germans, two Finns, two French, a South African couple, a French-Lebanese, nine Malaysians and two Filipinos they seized from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan last April 23. Ullah was part of the group.
"Hashim disclosed that he was able to receive P1 million from the wife of (Abu Sayyaf leader) Mujib Susukan, with a four percent monthly interest, without a written contract," Narcise said.
Investigation showed the Ungas used the money for a copra and seaweed buy-and-sell business, the school needs of Hashim's children, and the purchase of an L-300 van and a house and lot in this city.
Rizal Unga was arrested in his hideout in Baliwasan Tabuk, just two kilometers away from the Southcom headquarters, based on a tip his two arrested relatives had given probers.
Rizal admitted being a member of the extremist group under one Tutting Noman, who led the abduction of three Malaysians from the Pandacan beach resort last Sept. 10.
November 21, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada There is no evidence to convict me, by Marichu Villanueva,
After carefully studying an advance copy of the impeachment complaint against him, President Estrada concluded yesterday that "there is no evidence to convict me." Mr. Estrada stands accused of having accepted more than P400 million from illegal gambling operators and P130 million from tobacco taxes.
In the four-count impeachment complaint, the Chief Executive was also accused of favoring friends and relatives in government contracts and investigations, and participating in family-controlled real estate businesses despite a prohibition on outside business interests while in office.
Mr. Estrada stressed that the impeachment case was "without basis" and reiterated that his family's business interests are above-board, amid allegations that he built lavish homes for his mistresses. "I did not acquire any of these using stolen money," he said.
"None of my cronies are stealing from the government," the President said, adding that they were the ones who had provided housing for his mistresses. The President said he would accept the outcome of the trial but warned that he would be less tolerant of street protests if the Senate acquits him.
"I will accept whatever decision the Senate hands down and the opposition should do the same," the Chief Executive said. "They should respect our Constitution (and) if they don't… then they better prepare. I will make sure the Constitution is followed at whatever cost."
The President also announced a ban on government employees taking part in street demonstrations, either for or against him. "These (protests) inflict damage on the economy," he said. "Foreigners are scared of investing here because of these demonstrations."
On Sunday, opposition lawmakers warned that many Filipinos would not accept a close vote clearing Mr. Estrada in the trial, and that it might prompt massive protests. The crisis has had a devastating effect on the peso and stock market, and government and private economists have warned that growth will suffer if it is not resolved soon. Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, the dominant Catholic Church and big businesses have all called for his resignation and backed street protests against him.
But in several radio interviews yesterday, Mr. Estrada said he would not resign. "If they are asking me to resign, they're wrong because what will prevent the next president from being accused and stepping down? We'll become a banana republic," he said. The President also said he would pursue his normal duties during the trial. "There will be no major adjustments," he said.
"I would not be a damaged or lameduck president," he said. In a related development, the US government denied reports it was trying to interfere or influence the outcome of the impeachment proceedings. It said the trial is purely a domestic issue. – With reports from Aurea Calica, Leo Solinap
November 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, 2 Sayyaf leaders sighted, by Roel Pareño,
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Abu Sayyaf leaders Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot and Mujib Susukan have been sighted in the jungles of the Sulu towns of Talipao and Patikul by military troops pursuing the extremist guerrillas, intelligence reports said.
Andang and Susukan, the reports said, have been on the run in two groups since the military launched an all-out offensive against the rebel-bandits last Sept. 16.
Military sources said Andang, with about 100 hardcore followers, was spotted in the jungle of Talipao, while Susukan's group was sighted in Patikul.
It was not clear though which group was holding the two remaining hostages -- American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah.
Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, said more than 4,000 soldiers are still tracking down the groups of Andang, Susukan and other Abu Sayyaf leaders in the hinterlands of Sulu.
The Task Force Katapat II of the Department of the Interior and Local Government itself has joined in the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf leaders.
Chief Superintendent Romeo Maganto, task force head, said he has ordered the Task Group Mindanao to help track down Abu Sayyaf leaders. Andang, he said, almost fell into the hands of his men recently. -- With Marvin Sy
*Diigo, November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abu Sayyaf kidnaps ex-MILF leader,
November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada to seek dismissal of impeachment case on technicalities, by Marichu Villanueva,
President Estrada's lawyers will ask the Senate to dismiss outright the charges against him when his impeachment trial begins next month. Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora revealed this yesterday as he said that the President's lawyers would file a motion to dismiss due to grave technicalities committed by the House of Representatives in its haste to elevate the articles of impeachment to the Senate last Nov. 13.
"I think that is what they (defense lawyers) would do in order to test the validity of the case," Zamora said in an interview with radio station dzRH. Zamora said the President's lawyers believe congressmen did not follow the prescribed procedure in transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate last week.
He noted that the President's partymates in the House had questioned why the impeachment complaint did not first go through the committee on justice as required in the procedure for endorsing it to the Senate. "The process at the House, to our thinking, was too much fast-tracked," he said.
Aside from this, Zamora said the articles of impeachment contained no concrete evidence but only newspaper clippings which, he said, caused the complaint to become defective. A motion to dismiss by defense lawyers would preempt prosecutors from introducing evidence and putting witnesses on the stand.
The President has hired a defense panel composed of retired Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, former Deputy Speaker Raul Daza and former Manila Fiscal Jose Flaminiano. Zamora said the panel was joined recently by former Justice Manuel Lazaro and other lawyers who all offered their services free of charge.
It's legal but...
Sen. Franklin Drilon, in a statement, said the filing of a motion to dismiss is provided for in the rules they will be using. "Should the motion be granted, it will result in the abrupt end of the impeachment process," he said. However, Drilon said that the filing of a motion to dismiss and any ensuing debate over its legality may run contrary to the Senate's constitutional mandate to proceed with the trial upon receipt of the articles of impeachment.
"The filing will invariably lead to a number of serious legal questions," the former Senate president said. "First the Senate would have to determine whether or not the filing of such motion would be in accordance with the rules. Second, how many votes are needed for the motion to be considered proper? Would a mere majority of senators constituting a quorum be sufficient to grant the motion?" he asked.
The Senate convened as an impeachment court on Monday and has ordered daily hearings until the 22 senators, sitting as jurors, reach a verdict. Drilon refused to give a time frame for the trial, saying it would create a "dangerous mindset" that could affect the integrity of the entire proceedings.
He pointed out that setting a timetable for the trial would only give false hopes to the people. "No one, not even us senators, can and should set a timeframe on when we could finish the trial because we do not know how this whole thing will turn out," he said. "I appeal to my colleagues and to our people against imposing a deadline on the trial. Let us allow the two sides to present their cases without any time constraints. Let us not create a mindset on when this historic task shall be finished," he added.
Fearless forecast
Meanwhile, Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo categorically predicted that the President will certainly be out of office very soon through "God's divine intervention." "There is nothing impossible with God," she told reporters yesterday. Arroyo also declared that the battle now is no longer between the President and the opposition but between Mr. Estrada and the people because of the crashing economy. And she said that it no longer matters whether the opposition is prepared to assume power or not.
"It's the people who will react. It's the economy that will react," she said. And people are apparently already reacting. In the Ilocos region, there is now a perception that "justice may not be served" at the impeachment trial. Ilocos Norte Vice Gov. Mariano Nalupta Jr. said he has doubts on the capacity of a majority of the senators to assess the evidence in the trial. "Only few are lawyers among the senators," he said. In Singapore, the leader of the 2,000-strong Filipino community said they are supporting the impeachment trial and are hoping for a just resolution of the case.
"Other countries are watching us Filipinos. We want the constitutional process to take its course because we have to show the world that we respect our Constitution," said Encarnacion Montales, leader of Filipino workers in the island state.
Muslim scholars set for US, Australia
To further prove his concern for Muslims, the President's Erap Muslim Youth Foundation, which was suspected to be receiving money from the illegal numbers game jueteng, is sending Muslim scholars to the US and Australia. The President himself told reporters yesterday that his foundation will be spending some P10 million to finance the post-graduate education of Muslim students in foreign universities. And he said the money the foundation will be using came from the Erap Golf Open, a tournament held recently.
The President, however, could not yet say how many Muslim scholars his foundation will be sending abroad. "They (members of the foundation) have not given me their report. But this is an honest-to-goodness foundation. This is legal and really meant to help our Muslim youth to gain more knowledge," he said.
A lawyer of the President has admitted receiving P200 million from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson for the Muslim Youth Foundation, but he denied any knowledge that the money came from jueteng. Singson earlier revealed that he gave the President the P200 million as part of jueteng earnings from his province. – With Efren Danao, Liberty Dones, Aurea Calica
November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada unlikely to meet soon with Salamat Zamora, by John Unson,
President Estrada is unlikely to meet soon with Hashim Salamat, head of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) because an agenda for peace talks has not been prepared, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said yesterday.
This developed as military troops thwarted another attempt by MILF rebels to launch attacks in Carmen, North Cotabato the other day, killing nine guerrillas and wounding 13 others in a day-long gunbattle. Last Monday, Mr. Estrada said Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid had offered to serve as a go-between with Salamat, and was arranging a meeting between Salamat and Mr. Estrada. Wahid made the offer at a meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in Brunei last week, Mr. Estrada said. However, Zamora said the government must first draw up an agenda for the resumption of peace negotiations with the MILF.
"We don't want a one-on-one discussion to start if it is not necessary," Zamora said in a radio interview. "It would be difficult for President Estrada to hold a meeting with Salamat without knowing what should be discussed."
Zamora said the formal peace talks may be hosted by a member of the 56- nation Organization of Islamic Conference, but not Indonesia, which brokered a 1996 peace agreement with another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front. A meeting between Mr. Estrada and Salamat would give a significant political boost to Mr. Estrada, who is facing an impeachment trial on charges of bribery and corruption.
Mr. Estrada suspended peace talks with the MILF in June after it refused to abandon its secessionist goal and its armed struggle. His government launched an offensive against MILF camps in Central Mindanao earlier this year, prompting Salamat to declare a jihad or holy war against the government. Since then, rebel attacks on government forces and targets have increased and Mr. Estrada's government has sought to restart the peace talks. The rebels said they are willing to resume talks under certain conditions, including government recognition of previous agreements, including a ceasefire. — John Unson
November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Failure of elections feared if Congress fails to OK budget, by Sandy Araneta,
Imagine, by June 2001, only 12 senators will be working in the Senate and no congressman will be holding office. This was the grim scenario painted yesterday by Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson Harriet Demetriou who expressed fear that there might be a "failure of elections" if Congress fails to fast-track the budgetary requirements for next year's local and national elections.
To date, Demetriou said the poll body has only P7 million in its coffers. The Comelec has a budget deficit of P2.16 billion. "I will hold Congress responsible for the failure of elections during the May 14, 2001 electoral process," warned Demetriou during the Comelec's weekly press conference.
"We will not only have a constitutional crisis, but more importantly, a democratic crisis as well," she said. She added: "Congress is to blame, not the Comelec. Congress will have to answer for this, not Comelec." She gave Congress until Jan. 3, 2001 to fast-track the budget.
Demetriou said that based on the Constitution, an incumbent cannot extend his term no matter what the reasons may be. A politician, whose term ends in June 2001, will be deemed resigned after his term, whether or not there would be an election. "There could be some problems in conducting peaceful, honest, orderly and clean elections," she said.
"If Congress and the executive branch want to see impartial and competent election officers overseeing the installation and operation of a modernized electoral system with clean database and speedy counting and consolidation of votes such that the winners will be known within 24 hours after the closing of the polls, the commission places the minimum budgetary requirement at P5.9 billion," she added.
The Comelec, Demetriou said, has a P220-million budget for the year 2000, but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has not even released a single centavo as of yesterday. The alloted amount is only for continuing appropriations for preparations for the 2001 national and local elections. Demetriou said that budget cannot be used for the polls.
She said the commission needs at least P2.45 billion for the election process only, excluding the modernization projects. The modernization projects include the Voters Registration and Identification System (VRIS) and the Automated Counting and Consolidation of Results System (ACCORS).
Fearing that Congress and the executive branch may have overlooked the required logistics for next year's elections, Demetriou called on the DBM to immediately release the funds for the preparatory activities. Of the P2.8- billion allotment released, only P1.2 billion was actually issued a cash allocation. Some P1.6 billion is not yet backed up by a cash allocation.
Foremost of those adversely affected by the delay in the release of the Notice of Cash Allotment (NCA) are the salaries of casuals and the modernization program, she said.
November 24, 2000, The Philippine Star, Shadowy AFP group wants Estrada to quit, by Paolo Romero,
There's a shadowy group of retired military and police officers who have joined the call for President Estrada's resignation.
Calling themselves "Reveille" (which means wake-up call in French), members of a group claiming to be comprised of retired military and police officers are circulating a manifesto in Camp Aguinaldo, urging active officers of the Armed Forces to force Mr. Estrada to step down.
The manifesto is addressed to Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Panfilo Lacson.
"Help us in our quest for President Estrada to resign!" read the manifesto. "Help us restore decency in the Presidency. The Presidency is not a reformatory school. Help us restore our respected place in the community of nations. Help us regain our declining economy which we have considerably lost."
Members of "Reveille" called on soldiers and policemen to "allow the people's voice to prevail," and to remain neutral and not to allow the administration to use them in the present political crisis.
"We appeal to you to respect the democratic rights of our people to undertake these gigantic mass actions against the corrupt Estrada presidency," read the manifesto. "The time has come to effect the change, our people have spoken, these they now translate into the parliament of the streets to be heard loud and clear."
In another development, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado has asked Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero to investigate and possibly prosecute retired Lt. Gen. Fortunato Abat after he called on other active military officers to force the President to resign.
"(Abat's action) is clearly an incitement for the active members of the AFP to take action against the President to pressure him to resign," he said.
Abat has rejected Mr. Estrada's request that he shut up and vowed to continue expressing his views on issues which he believes are of national concern.
"As much as ordinary citizens have the right to publicly express their views, we the retired generals also have this right to do the same," he said.
Abat was a former commander of the Army, and he was secretary of national defense under the administration of former President Fidel Ramos, who is also a retired general.
Mercado said he had asked for the justice secretary's opinion on the "appropriate action that could be taken" against the people behind the manifesto.
"More particularly, we would like to request the DOJ to look into the criminal statutes that may have been violated by the persons responsible for this manifesto," he said.
Mercado told Tuquero that he had been holding dialogues with military officers and enlisted personnel in connection with the political crisis gripping the country.
"I have repeatedly enjoined the men and women of the AFP to respect the Constitution and leave the politicking to politicians," he said.
Mercado said the Armed Forces leadership has already declared its commitment to the Constitution and to respect the outcome of the impeachment trial of President Estrada.
At Camp Crame, the chief of the PNP Community Relations Group (CRG) has refused to obey an order of Lacson relieving him of his command.
Chief Superintendent Steven Cudal told reporters yesterday "some ranking PNP officials are capitalizing" on what he described as "trumped-up charges" against him, which are pending at the Sandiganbayan.
"I cannot accept this relief order," he said. " I will fight for my right. This is a complete denial of due process. I will ask the intervention of the court. I am lawyer and I know my law."
Lacson named Senior Superintendent Nelson Estares yesterday as officer-in-charge of the CRG, the unit which handles the PNP's public relations.
On another front, the chairman of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) cautioned Malacañang yesterday against belittling the influence of retired generals on military officers in the active service.
Retired Brig. Gen. Ernesto Gidaya, AGFO chairman, said he was superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy from 1972 to 1976.
"I've graduated four PMA classes and they are now in responsible positions," he said.
AGFO is comprised of 631 generals, more than one third of whom are still in active service in the Armed Forces and the PNP. -- With reports from Jaime Laude, Mayen Jaymalin, Delon Porcalla
November 24, 2000, The Philippine Star, Abducted merchant feared dead, by Roel Pareño,
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Abu Sayyaf rebels executed a Basilan trader whom they seized from his farmhouse the other day, his wife said yesterday.
"It was confirmed to me that my husband is dead, but we have yet to recover his body," said Tayang Abdusalam, wife of Panih (not Sonny as earlier reported) Abdusalam who was abducted by 20 extremist rebels from their farmhouse in Barangay Balono, 13 kilometers from the Basilan capital of Isabela.
Tayang said their workers heard three gunshots after her husband was handcuffed and mauled and dragged to a speedboat.
The victim was a former zone commander of the Moro National Liberation Front who availed himself of livelihood assistance from the government.
This developed as two soldiers were wounded in a clash with followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot in the jungles of Talipao, Sulu last Wednesday afternoon, the military said.
Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, said about 50 troopers of the 4th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat patrol in the mountain barangay of Sungcal when they encountered Andang's followers, triggering a firefight that lasted for more than an hour.
Atendido said the rebels dragged their wounded comrades away as they withdrew after the gunbattle.
November 25, 2000, The Philippine Star, "Mad man" arrested in Palace bomb try, by Paolo Romero,
The Presidential Security Group (PSG) foiled yesterday an attempt to bomb Malacanang by an apparently deranged man who managed to slip past at least two layers of security guarding the Palace.
The suspect, identified as Tirso Padel, is now under interrogation by members of the PSG and Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) at Camp Aguinaldo.
According to two reporters who witnessed the incident, which took place less than 200 meters away from President Estrada's residence, Padel entered Malacanang's Gate 6 along J.P. Laurel st. that was guarded by three Palace guards at 10:15 a.m.
He, however, quickly bypassed the metal detector and once through, he pulled out an improvised incendiary bomb from a black-and-yellow backpack he was carrying and began shouting "May mga solusyon ba tayo sa mga problema natin sa bayan! Nasaan ang media? (Do we have solutions to the problems facing our country? Where's the media?)"
He ran towards the inner sentry gate guarding Malacanang Palace and the Presidential Residence after PSG men whom he earlier slipped past pursued him with cocked guns.
Alert guards, however, were already ready and pointed their rifles at him.
The commotion caused visitors to the Malacanang Museum to scamper for safety.
Padel then ran towards the rotunda fronting Kalayaan Hall and with his back against the large tree at the center of the circle, he raised the molotov cocktail, which was a liter-sized Coke bottle, and threatened to light its fuse.
A barong-clad member of the PSG explosives and ordnance division was able to subdue Padel and took the molotov away from him.
While pinned to the ground, Padel kept shouting "may dokumento ako! (I have documents)."
Upon inspection, his backpack yielded a six-inch kitchen knife with a yellow plastic handle wrapped in paper.
Padel was immediately whisked to the PSG headquarters and later transferred to the ISAFP headquarters.
Meanwhile, the military bared an alleged plot of the New People's Army (NPA) to conduct bombing runs in Metro Manila including Malacanang Palace.
Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff and Intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim said the rebel plot was uncovered following the arrest yesterday of Padel.
The 28-year-old alleged suicide bomber who hails from Eastern Samar, Calimlim said, is an active member of the New People's Army (NPA).
When presented to the media at Camp Aguinaldo, Padel denied being a member of the NPA. He, however, said that he was just very angry with President Estrada.
Calimlim told reporters that the seized explosive if detonated by the suspect, could trigger a big fire inside the Palace, including the office occupied by the President.
He added that Padel's arrest only confirmed earlier intelligence reports that the NPA rebels are already in Metro Manila to take advantage of the current political crisis, to sow terror.
Calimlim also disclosed that members of the NPA's Central Luzon Party Committee are now massing towards Metro Manila from Bulacan; while the Narciso-Aramel Command is now in Laguna while the Melito-Glor Command has already distributed their forces in Cavite, Laguna and Metro Manila.
The military is currently monitoring the rebel's so-called designated pickup points where their weapons are being stored. -- With Jaime Laude
November 26, 2000, The Philippine Star, Rallies hurting economy Estrada, by Paolo Romero,
A day after seeking to dismiss impeachment charges against him, President Estrada called for an end to protests demanding his ouster, saying "they are hurting the economy."
"Let us stop these ruinous activities and other protests that seriously hurt our economy because those who will suffer are the majority of Filipino masses," Mr. Estrada said during his weekly radio program yesterday.
Mr. Estrada said he was prepared to face all the charges against him. "I hope that my opponents also show respect for our Constitution," he said.
Allegations by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson that the President received hundreds of millions of pesos from illegal gambling operations and kickbacks from tobacco taxes prompted the opposition to file charges of bribery, corruption, violation of the constitution and betrayal of public trust against the President.
The allegations, which Mr. Estrada has denied, have plunged the country into its worst political crisis in years, threatening the country's ailing economy.
An unusual alliance of business and labor groups and left-wing activists is demanding Mr. Estrada’s immediate resignation to avoid a prolonged impeachment process which could further hurt the economy.
They plan daily protests in Manila and other major cities next week, including a march and caravan of poor peasants from northern and southern provinces that will converge in the capital for a big demonstration on Nov. 30, the birthday of national hero Andres Bonifacio, who led the revolution against Spanish colonial rulers.
Mr. Estrada said: "In these trying times, let us be calm and let us not be swayed by some sectors who propagate all kinds of distortions that greatly affect our economy."
"I continue to pray for unity and lasting peace for our country," he said.
Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr., meanwhile, said the opposition appears to be divided as they seek different means of ousting the Mr. Estrada.
"Some of them won't stop in just demanding the President to resign. In fact, some of them want to overthrow the government. They have different ideologies. All of them want to prevail," Puno said.
"That is where they went wrong," he added.
Puno noted that while there are people in the opposition who are working in good faith, there are those with questionable agenda.
"The opposition should be careful," he said. "I think it is obvious that they were infiltrated by groups with discredited ideologies, and these are the groups that don't have the people's welfare in mind."
Mr. Estrada has repeatedly said he will not resign and insisted on impeachment as the only constitutional means to unseat him.
However, on Friday, his lawyers asked the Senate to dismiss the impeachment charges, saying they were technically flawed.
Opposition lawmakers said the move was meant to delay his impeachment trial, the first for a Philippine president.
The motion to dismiss the charges filed by Mr. Estrada's lawyers raised questions over the haste by which the House of Representatives forwarded the articles of impeachment to the Senate last Nov. 13.
There was no vote on the impeachment complaint by the full House. Rep. Manuel Villar, who was then House speaker, ruled that a vote was unnecessary because more than the required one-third of the members had earlier signed a petition endorsing impeachment.
Mr. Estrada's lawyers, led by retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, argued that the House did not follow the constitutional requirement for a hearing in determining "probable cause" before the charges were raised to the Senate.
The defense also said that those who endorsed the impeachment complaint did not have personal knowledge of Mr. Estrada's alleged misdeeds, a violation of the constitutional requirement for a preliminary investigation to determine whether the charges can be substantiated.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who heads the Senate impeachment tribunal, set a hearing on the motion for Nov. 28.
Opposition lawmakers have accused Estrada and his lawyers of delaying the trial.
Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo, one of the 11 members of the House prosecution panels, aid the administration "is engaged in double speak."
"On the one hand the president says he wants a speedy trial to clear his name, yet his lawyers have embarked on a dilatory tactic. It doesn't sit well with the public," he said in an interview with ABS-CBN television.
Meanwhile, Villar warned of widespread unrest if Mr. Estrada's supporters would continue to derail the trial.
He said the petition of Mr. Estrada's lawyers to have the case dismissed "will only further escalate the divisiveness brought about by the issue."
"Moves to dismiss the case outright will not serve the interest of justice and will only delay the resolution of the case and this will not be good for the country," he said.
For his part, Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol said the political plans of his colleagues in the prosecution panel could take a backseat as they try to convict the President.
"The work of a prosecutor in the impeachment trial is a task reposed upon him by Congress as mandated by the Constitution. In taking up this task, a prosecutor has to make a lot of sacrifices and consign to the back burner all concerns and plans affecting his career," he said.
Realtors seek speedy trial
The Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (CREBA) asked lawyers of Mr. Estrada to withdraw their motion to dismiss the case, saying this would speed up the impeachment trial.
The group said prolonging the trial would only spawn economic chaos.
Besides, "any act by the defense lawyers that would subvert" facts "would not only cause undue delay but would also be construed as an unmistakable indication of guilt."
"Here, the lawyers' gain is the President's loss," CREBA said in a statement.
The group also asked all those concerned to respect whatever the jurors may decide on the case.
"If found guilty, the President must immediately step down, and all members of the Cabinet must consider themselves resigned and thereafter provide for a smooth turnover of responsibilities," it said.
The group also said that the opposition should stay calm if the jurors find the President innocent.
"A finding of innocence must not be used by the opposition as an excuse to foment further unrest or mass acts of civil disobedience," it said. Otherwise, they will be accused "of subverting the democratic process to further their own personal agenda."
Meanwhile, former UP Law Dean Froilan Bacungan said President Estrada should appear in the trial to personally clear his name.
He also said that the Chief Executive cannot be suspended during the trial because such an action was not provided for in the Constitution. -- With Aurea Calica, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Allen Estabillo
November 27, 2000, The Philippine Star, Scores killed as soldiers retake MILF camp, by Roel Pareño, John Unson,
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Scores of rebels were believed killed after government troops overran a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) training camp in Butig town in Lanao del Sur Saturday afternoon. Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman for the Armed Forces Southern Command, told reporters yesterday government troops were able to retake Camp Bushra following five days of running gun battles that began with heavy artillery bombardment last Monday.
"An intercepted enemy message indicated many guerrillas were killed and wounded in the shelling," he said. "Troops shelled and assaulted the place and eventually occupied again the area from MILF forces." However, Atendido said the number of fatalities could have risen last Saturday after Camp Bushra was retaken by government troops.
An MILF official said guerrillas also killed more than 20 soldiers during the clashes, a claim dismissed by Atendido as propaganda. Atendido said there was no actual body count, but messages intercepted on radio and "bloodstains all over the place" indicated scores of rebels had been wounded or killed.
Atendido said Scout Rangers penetrated the MILF's main position by late Saturday after seven hours of bombardment, and that troops recovered from the scene assorted firearms, including anti-tank rockets and machineguns, and ammunition. Peace talks between the government and MILF collapsed early this year.
Meanwhile, the Army's 6th Infantry Division has tightened security in Central Mindanao in anticipation of suicide attacks by MILF guerrillas during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drinks and sex.
Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamko, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, told reporters yesterday Muslim religious leaders and local officials will try to convince MILF guerrillas not to disrupt peace in their communities during Ramadan.
Kyamko said his men will conduct humanitarian projects during Ramadan, including multi-sectoral dialogues in far-flung areas to complement Malacañang's peace initiative with the MILF. On the other hand, Al Haj Murad, MILF vice chairman for military affairs, told The STAR yesterday their forces will maintain a defensive posture and engage government troops only if provoked.
"Ramadan is a very important season for Muslims and we are hoping that our observance on the month-long fasting will not be disturbed by any military attacks," he said. "Even then, we will fight back and defend our positions if provoked." However, some Muslim preachers, who were trained in a prominent Islamic university in Cairo in Egypt, are apprehensive that some radical members of the MILF would launch suicide attacks.
Moctar Abdullah, a 45-year-old Islamic missionary, said: "There is a belief among us that the gates of heaven are wide open for martyrs during Ramadan. This could be unduly exploited by radical members of the front to encourage some fanatic members to create trouble during Ramadan."
In an official statement, the 20-member League of Mayors in Maguindanao called on Malacañang and the MILF yesterday to forge a bilateral ceasefire and to accord due respect to each other's religious holidays –the Ramadan for Muslims and the celebration of Christmas for Christians.
Upi, Maguindanao Mayor Datu Michael Sinsuat, president of the league, said: "Even if both sides do not resume with the peace talks yet, there should be a compromise on how to maintain peace during the observance of these two religious seasons." – Roel Pareño, John Unson
November 27, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada assures military of full support, by Paolo Romero and Jaime Laude,
President Estrada assured the officers and men of the Armed Forces yesterday of the administration's continued support until the end of his term in 2004. The Chief Executive also lauded the troops for remaining professional and loyal to the Constitution despite the attempt of "certain groups" to drag them into the present political fray.
"I am convinced that we shall overcome the assaults against the integrity of the Republic because we believe in the righteousness of our cause and ideals," the President said. "We shall overcome because we have loyalty, the commitment, and the dedication of an Armed Forces that upholds the ideals of democracy and freedom."
Meanwhile, the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO), through retired Gen. Alfredo Guidaya, declared yesterday they are behind the Constitution and the Armed Forces.
AGFO's stand contravened that of other retired generals belonging to the Business Industry and Retired Cavaliers Inc. (BIRCI) headed by former Constabulary chief Gen. Ramon Montano, and the Federation of Retired Commissioned and Enlisted Officers (FORCES) chaired by former Army chief Lt. Gen. Fortunato Abat.
Abat earlier announced that BIRCI and FORCES have joined the call for President Estrada's immediate resignation, saying that the Chief Executive "has lost all ascendancy to govern" the country.
At Camp Aguinaldo, Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes appealed to retired generals to speak for themselves and not drag their comrades if they decide to get involved in partisan politics. "If they want to participate in political activities, they must do so in their personal capacities," Reyes told reporters. "It's alright for retired generals to speak out their minds as long as in doing so, they do not claim to speak for all the reservists, retirees and veterans." Reyes was reacting to a series of pronouncements of Abat that retired generals support the united opposition's call for the President to step down. Mr. Estrada told reporters yesterday the officers and men of the Armed Forces have proven themselves worthy of the people's trust as shown by successful military operations against communist and secessionist rebels.
"Your selfless devotion and dedication to your duty to uphold the Constitution and to preserve our democratic ideals have given our people the security and assurance that they can live in relative peace," he said. The Chief Executive said soldiers undertaking civic operation like relief and engineering in far-fling areas have given the people a sense of government presence.
Reyes said retired generals are still part of the Armed Forces, which under the concept of "Total Force" is comprised of the regular and reserve forces. "Technically, they (retired generals) are still part of the AFP under the total concept force," he said. Reyes said the reserve force where the retirees belong can be mobilized when the need arises, and so reserve officers cannot be politicized.
Reyes said retired generals who are calling on President Estrada to resign are supposed to be helping their comrades-in-arms in the active service develop the Armed Forces. However, Reyes said the Armed Forces will not interfere in the way the retired generals would like to express their views on the present political crisis.
"They can even join rallies and demonstrations," he said. In another development, reserve Marine Maj. Joseph Victor Ejercito, who is one of Mr. Estrada's sons, identified yesterday former national security adviser Jose Almonte and former defense secretary Renato de Villa --both retired generals --as among those behind the "psy-war operations" of releasing supposed anti-Estrada manifestos of retired generals. "They are trying to create a wedge between retired and active generals," he said. "Since they cannot get to those who are in active service, they are using retired generals."
November 28, 2000, Sun Star, Erap denies hand in Dacer's disappearance,
MANILA -- President Estrada Monday rejected charges that his government was behind the mysterious disappearance of the publicist of his predecessor and critic Fidel Ramos. He also denied his administration had a hand in the attempted break-in at the house of a senior aide of Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The President, in his directive, told the police Monday to seek the help of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in looking for Salvador Dacer, the publicist of former president Ramos who went missing last Friday.
"I don't have any involvement" in his disappearance, he said, but revealed he met with Dacer on Wednesday night during a "friendly visit." Estrada issued a memorandum to the police to step up the search for the public relations executive. In his directive, asked the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) to "exert all efforts" in finding the missing public relations man.
"For the purpose of carrying out this task, you are hereby authorized to enlist the support of the ISAFP," the President said. At the Parañaque City Hall, Mayor Joey Marquez offered P500,000 to any person who could give information on the whereabouts of Dacer, who failed to show up for a scheduled meeting with Ramos and Arroyo.
Marquez said the reward money came from the Mayor's intelligence funds. The mayor also initiated the putting up of a Task Force Hanap Bubby Dacer to help look for the public relations man, who went missing on Nov. 24 at past 10 a.m.
He explained he was interested in Dacer's case, not because he was a prominent man, but because he was a city constituent, whose security should be given importance. Dacer was on his way to his office from his residence in Parañaque when he disappeared. He was with his driver Manuel Corbito on board a white Toyota Revo. Vice President Arroyo's chief aide Renato Corona yesterday said the attempted break-in at his home last Tuesday, as well as Dacer's disappearance, shows "the specter of terror tactics against the political opposition is once more looming in the horizon, if it is not already upon us."
He said the justice department's National Bureau of Investigation has admitted having sent one of its agents to his house last week, but offered no apology. "The current political upheaval the nation is facing will only worsen with every transgression on the rights of its citizens to be safe and secure from the naked abuse of state power," he added.
Both Arroyo and Ramos have asked Estrada to resign, saying he no longer had the moral authority to govern after he was impeached for allegedly taking millions of pesos in bribes from gambling bosses, siphoning off tobacco taxes and pressuring corporate regulators to rule in favor of his business cronies.
But President Estrada predicted that the Senate would acquit him of corruption charges at his trial next month and allow him to serve out the remainder of his term. In several speeches and interviews with reporters, Estrada urged the opposition to call off planned street protests this week, ahead of his impeachment trial in the Senate starting Dec. 7.
"I assure the Filipino people that I will be acquitted because truth is on my side," Estrada told representatives of the urban poor at a meeting in Malacañang. The President reiterated he was ready to face the charges "as long as they are in accord with the Constitution," adding he would abide by the Senate's verdict.
In a separate speech to members of his party, Estrada again rejected calls for his resignation. "The bottom line is that a duly elected President cannot abandon the people's will on the mere basis of obviously politically motivated attacks and baseless accusations." He urged demonstrators to "place our country above personal or political interests. We cannot allow anarchy or violence in our streets and in our cities."
Speaking to reporters later, Estrada advised the protesters to "just wait for the Senate's verdict" and to refrain from bringing schoolchildren to rallies. "They could get hurt, they should not be involved," he said. Government intelligence warned last week that communist guerrillas planned to infiltrate the protesters' ranks and incite "violent" actions to advance the left's own agenda to seize power. (Sunnex/PNA/AFP)
November 28, 2000, The Philippine Star, Sin renews call for Estrada to quit, by Sandy Araneta,
"Wake up and be involved." Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin renewed his call to his flock yesterday to press on with the campaign for the ouster of President Estrada, whom he said has become one of the country's "biggest problems."
Sin made the call as anti-Estrada protests enter the second day of week-long mass actions across the country. "The nation is bleeding. Let us not allow the nation to bleed to death. The President is not the only problem. He is one of our biggest problems. But let us not forget that we are all guilty of the crime of complacency, indifference and apathy," Sin said in a statement.
Sin urged the faithful to pray hard "so that our President and our citizens may be ready to make the necessary sacrifices needed to restore peace to our land." "It is only in the light of the spirit of love for God and country that he will be able to see the value of resignation. Let us pray that the President will listen more to the voice of God rather than to the voice of self-serving political advisers," he said.
Sin also reminded protesters to keep the demonstrations and rallies peaceful, and respect the law. "Even if the problem is getting worse with every passing day we must not even think of resorting to violent means or to engage in a hate campaign for anybody," he said. Malacañang earlier warned protesters that while the constitutional right of freedom of speech and peaceful assembly would be respected, "illegal acts" such as barricading streets or making seditious statements would be dealt with severely.
Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said security forces have been monitoring the anti-Estrada speeches. Malacañang reportedly had ordered television and radio stations not to erase tapes of anti-Estrada rallies. Yesterday, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) criticized the alleged order, saying it smacked of the martial law tactics of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship that ended in 1986 after a peaceful popular uprising. "God forbid! Such things as the Malacañang order reminds us of the Marcos era and make us a country of paranoids," said Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the CBCP. "Criticisms against Mr. Estrada are not criticisms against the entire government and the state."
Quevedo said the order "would effectively instill fear and nervousness, inhibit participation in peaceful and legal demonstrations." "No wonder the police are having some problems of credibility," he remarked.
Even if Mr. Estrada is acquitted of the corruption charges against him in the upcoming impeachment trial, it would not resolve other issues hounding Mr. Estrada, Quevedo said. "It is about immorality in the use of presidential power," he explained. Quevedo said the impeachment charges against Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – accused of sedition by a lawyer for urging Mr. Estrada to step down – "pale in comparison to the charges against President Estrada."
November 30, 2000, The Philippine Star, Palace We're not fomenting class war, by Marichu Villanueva,
President Estrada is not instigating a "class war" between the masses and the elite as alleged by anti-Estrada groups, Malacañang said yesterday. Press Secretary Ricardo Puno made the denial to reporters as members of the Makati Business Club (MBC) handed out packed lunches of adobo and rice to thousands of militant workers and farmers near the monument of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. on the corner of Ayala Ave. and Paseo de Roxas in Makati City.
Puno said the Chief Executive often alluded to the elite as leading anti- Estrada protest rallies because they have the capability to withstand any adverse effects on the economy by destabilization efforts. "Those with different objectives are always going to put a wrong spin on that and say that the President is trying to foment class wars," he said. "That is exactly what he is not trying to do. Because we're not trying to foment any class wars here or any difficulties between the rich and the poor."
Puno said anti-Estrada businessmen in Makati are projecting a "doomsday" scenario that the economy is about to collapse, when in fact its third quarter performance shows otherwise. "This is the doomsday scenario that people are portraying about the economy," he said wryly, referring to the 4.8 percent growth of the gross domestic product in the third quarter.
Puno said President Estrada is appealing to protest leaders and organizers to stop the demonstrations because his impeachment trial is underway. "I think we have been consistent in what we have said here that we do not object to any people expressing their opinions," he said. "We have no problem with that. What we're asking is for them to cease from these activities because they adversely affect our economy."
Puno said authorities will maintain a policy of "maximum tolerance," and that protesters will not be prevented from exercising their right to express their grievances against the government. "But what we have not guaranteed is the right to violate the law, the right to create disturbances," he said. "They are all contrary to law." Guillermo Luz, spokesman for the MBC, told reporters yesterday the "people power lunch" with the farmers and workers sought to prove wrong President Estrada's claim that the protest actions against him serve only the interests of the elite. – Marichu Villanueva
November 30, 2000, The Philippine Star, Soldiers overrun MILF complex in Maguindanao, by John Unson,
COTABATO CITY – Soldiers overran and destroyed yesterday a newly built defense complex of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Buldon, Maguindanao. The complex had nine bunkers where MILF rebels kept dozens of cattle stolen from farmers in nearby towns.
Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said about 50 rebels guarding the periphery of the camp opened fire on patrolling members of the 27th Infantry Battalion, triggering a running gunbattle.
Ando said the rebels abandoned the defense complex, built atop a strategic hill in Barangay Karit, Buldon town, after sensing that the soldiers had started closing in. Officials of Buldon and Barira towns confirmed that four rebels were killed in the firefight. Two of them were identified as Gedsa Kamarudin and Sarapudin Giok, both wanted for a string of criminal cases, including kidnapping.
"The soldiers were sent to Barangay Karit at the request of Muslim civilians who had sought our help to check the presence of their stolen farm animals inside that MILF camp," Ando said. Police reports showed that from Sept. 1 to Nov. 15, MILF rebels carted away 158 farm animals during attacks in far- flung villages of Maguindanao and North Cotabato. — John Unson
December 1, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military: Drive vs Abu Sayyaf to go on during Ramadan, by Poel Pareno,
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Abu Sayyaf will be fasting under the hail of bullets as the military declared it will not suspend operations against the extremist group during the observance of the holy month of Ramadan.
Instead, the military said there will be no let-up in the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf whose prominent commanders continue to elude pursuing government forces in the mountains of Sulu province.
Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces Southern Command, said the military is running after the Abu Sayyaf, the self-styled Islamic fighters but are considered terrorist group responsible for the series of kidnappings and attacks.
"We have a firm stand and order to flush out the Abu Sayyaf and neutralize the group even after the recovery of the remaining hostages," Atendido said.
Atendido said the troops under the TaskForce Trident are still running after more than a hundred bandits led by commanders Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot, Mujib Susukan, Abu Jumdain alias Dr. Abu Pula, Nadjmi Sadalla alias Global, and Radullan Sahiron.
Sources from Sulu disclosed that Khadaffy Janjalani and his trusted henchman Abu Asmad Salayuddi alias Sabaya have already slipped out of the province along with their American captive Jeffrey Craig Edwards Schilling and landed in Sumisip, Basilan.
The informants disclosed that Janjalani and Sabaya, bringing Schilling along, boarded an outrigger fishing boat from Kaunayan, Patikul town, Sulu three weeks ago and proceeded to Basilan.
Government troops continued to scour the coastal and mountain lair in Sumisip to ascertain the presence of Janjalani and Sabaya with their captive. However, the patrol led to the misencounter of government forces and the militiamen where its leader Abdul Midjal was killed last Sunday.
December 1, 2000, The Philippine Star, Body of doctor kidnapped in Quezon City found in Laguna canal, by Rene Alviar,
LILIW, Laguna -- A cadaver found floating in an irrigation canal here last week with a stab wound in his right eye was identified to be that of a kidnap-for-ransom victim.
The body, clad in white shirt and maong pants, was identified by relatives as that of Dr. Frederick Mendoza, 34, a doctor of the Calamba Medical Center in Calamba, Laguna and resident of Caloocan City.
Police sources here said Mendoza was found floating in an irrigation canal in Barangay Muhon this town in the afternoon of Nov. 21 with a stab wound in his right eye that pierced his skull.
Investigation showed that Mendoza and his girlfriend, identified as Mini Opillas, were abducted along the parking lot of SM Megamall in Quezon City on Nov. 20 by at least four armed men. They were forced to board an FX van, the sources said.
The abductors later dropped Opillas somewhere along Taft Avenue in Pasay City to allow the latter to raise ransom money, threatening to kill Mendoza if she revealed the incident to lawmen.
Opillas, however, informed the Western Police District and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), which immediately launched search and rescue operations, police here said.
The duo were scheduled to be married on Dec. 18, it was gathered. Sensing the tip-off to the police, the kidnappers decided to finish off the victim, police said.
Mendoza's body now lies at the Ambassador Funeral Parlor in Caloocan City, the police sources here said.
December 2, 2000, The Philippine Star, Government declares holiday ceasefire with NPA, MILF, by Paolo Romero
The government has unilaterally declared a ceasefire with the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the suspension of military offensive (SOMO) against the NPA, declared in the spirit of Christmas, will start on Dec. 16. The ceasefire with the MILF, on the other hand, took effect yesterday. Both SOMOs will end on Jan. 9.
Mercado told reporters that the truce with the MILF was primarily in deference to the Muslims’ observance of the holy month of Ramadan which began on Nov. 27.
"Since we have reiterated our willingness to resume peace talks with the MILF, it (SOMO) will be an important confidence-building measure," Mercado stated in a memorandum to President Estrada.
"It will also allow MILF rebels and supporters to contribute to the rebuilding of those communities in Central Mindanao and elsewhere that were affected by the recent conflict," he added.
On the other hand, the SOMO with the NPA was merely a repetition of the same truce last year in the spirit of the holiday season.
"This will allow NPA rebels to consider the possibility of abandoning their armed struggle as well as provide for a humanitarian pause in this conflict," Mercado said.
The secretary claimed there were two "rejectionist" factions within the NPA, the Revolutionary Proletariat Army (RPA) and the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan (RHB). Both reportedly operate mainly in the Negros-Panay and Central Luzon areas.
Mercado said peace talks with the RPA were ongoing, with Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara heading the government panel.
In the case of the RHB, Mercado said there appeared no definite leader who can talk with the government panel.
Mercado said the government can explore the possibility of initiating peace talks with the rebels "if a climate of peace, even just pursuant to a ceasefire, is created."
He said the government is not thinking of any ceasefire with the extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels.
The NPA is the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a political and armed struggle against the government over the past three decades.
For its part, the MILF, a breakaway faction of the mainstream Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), is fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.
The MNLF forged a peace agreement with the government in September 1998.
The military placed the current strength of the MILF at less than 10,000 armed regulars.
Soldiers captured 13 major camps and 33 satellite camps of the Muslim rebel group in Central Mindanao during a four-month relentless campaign launch last April.
Despite the offensive, peace negotiations with the MILF continued until the rebels decided to withdraw from the talks in August citing as reason alleged government insincerity in bringing an end to the civil strife in the South.
The following month, the President issued Proclamation 390 offering amnesty to the MILF rebels even as he ordered unconditional resumption of the peace talks.
The NPA's strength peaked in 1986 with 25,000 guerrillas, but the number gradually declined through the years, dropping to a low of 8,000 fighters in 1997.
However, military intelligence indicated that the NPA intensified anew its recruitment activities and was able to expand its strength to 10,000 men with 6,000 firearms.
Authorities attributed the increase to the prevailing economic crisis.
December 2, 2000, The Philippine Star, Cabinet men warn against civil disobedience campaign,
Cabinet officials warned left-leaning groups yesterday against holding civil disobedience campaigns, saying such protest actions could only lead to more economic hardships.
Finance Secretary Jose Pardo and Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said in separate radio interviews that the leftists' plan to boycott companies linked to President Estrada's friends and defer their tax payments could hurt the economy.
A militant farmers' group, which has been getting the support of the business community in the drive to oust Mr. Estrada, announced the other day that it may conduct a civil disobedience campaign to force the President's resignation.
Pardo asked businessmen to help the government "insulate" the economy from such partisan politics.
If not, he said the government's projection of a 3.5 percent economic growth target would be severely affected.
"Our appeal to (businessmen) is if ever they are angry or they have problems, please do not direct these to the economic institution," he said.
Pardo also asked businessmen to wait for the results of the impeachment trial in the Senate instead of joining street protests.
For his part, Mercado said the planned tax boycott will only benefit big business.
Unlike fixed income and wage earners, whose withholding taxes are automatically deducted from their salaries, big businesses "are capable of circumventing the law," he said.
"Hence, the call for the nonpayment of taxes will benefit only big business," he said.
Mercado also said that Armed Forces of the Philippines has received an intelligence report about the political opposition's heavy spending in trying to oust Mr. Estrada.
He said the President's political enemies have already spent "billions of pesos" in their campaign.
"This report is not surprising because we all know that big amounts of money are needed to mobilize people to join protest actions," he said. "So in many instances we can see that there is an organized campaign to oust Mr. Estrada."
Meanwhile, leftist demonstrators vowed to launch a much bigger protest action on Dec. 7, when the Senate formally starts the impeachment trial.
Crispin Beltran, chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, said they will take a rest before holding the rally.
"The week-long rallies have been tiresome. We have to rest for a while before we launch another mass action," he said.
Satur Ocampo of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said a series of mass actions will start on Monday next week and culminate on Dec. 7. He said they will try to double the number of rallyists.
Last Thursday, about 20,000 demonstrators converged at the foot of the Don Chino Roces Bridge (formerly Mendiola) to pressure Mr. Estrada to resign.
Sanlakas spokeswoman Judy Ann Miranda told a press conference that some of their members will don Santa Claus costumes during the series of rallies and give "special gifts" to "naughty" senators.
For instance, she said their Santa Clauses would give a balimbing to former Senate President Franklin Drilon and two bouncing checks to Senators John Osmeña and Tessie Aquino-Oreta.
The group’s Santa Claus would also give a new amulet to Sen. Ramon Revilla, a pair of zippers to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and a one-way plane ticket to China for businessman and presidential friend Lucio Tan.
In other developments yesterday, the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM) said it will support a "people's revolt" against Mr. Estrada, but will not join any coup attempts to topple the administration.
"We agreed that RAM will side with the people and help them in whatever moves they will make against the administration," retired Brig. Gen. Edgardo Abenina told a radio interview.
On rumors that members of the Philippine Military Academy's Classes 1976 and 1978 will go on indefinite leave as a form of protest against Mr. Estrada, Abenina said he is not surprised.
"They can't stand the way the President runs the affairs of the state," he said.
He also expressed suspicion over the sudden departure of Philippine National Police chief Director General Panfilo Lacson for the United States.
"Why did he suddenly leave when anytime the people can overthrow the government?" he asked.
"These are the times when he is very much needed by the PNP and the country, especially now when there are reports that there will be a mass leave within the PNP," Abenina said. -- Marichu Villanueva, Nestor Etolle, Mayen Jaymalin, Paolo Romero, Charlie Lagasca
December 5, 2000, The Philippine Star, Another Palace attack Gloria, by Liberty Dones and Marichu Villanueva,
Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo charged Malacañang yesterday with "black propaganda" for the circulation of her fake Christmas greetings. The Christmas card shows the Vice President’s picture superimposed on a photo of Malacañang Palace, with the words "Nawa’y sumainyo ang Diwa ng Kapaskuhan. Magkita-kita Tayo sa Malakanyang (May the spirit of Christmas be with you. We will be seeing each other at Malacañang).
The card bore her signature. At the back were the names of her 24 supposed Cabinet members led by House Minority Leader Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr., with the title "executive secretary." Arroyo said the release of those cards was part of the Estrada administration’s agenda to discredit her and the political opposition as embodied in its "God Save the King" project revealed by former President Fidel Ramos.
"That really shows the vast resources available to those who want to retain the seat of power and how unscrupulously they use these resources," she said. She asked the people to be vigilant against black propaganda and not to be misled.
Earlier, posters sprouted in Metro Manila showing her picture and with her initials taking a new meaning: Gahaman Maupo Agad (Greedy to sit immediately). Lawyer Renato Corona, her chief of staff, said the distribution of the cards via e-mail and courier service has a "distinguishable Malacañang patent."
"Although the ploy of sending out such greeting cards obviously betrays the utter lack of creativeness necessary for an effective black propaganda campaign, this is a clear and unmistakable confirmation that the administration ploy to discredit the Vice President and the opposition really exists," Corona said.
Malacañang, however, vehemently denied any hand in the production and distribution of the fake Christmas cards. At a press briefing at Malacañang yesterday, Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said the Office of the Press Secretary, as the government’s chief information agency, is not engaged in any black propaganda against the Vice President and other opposition leaders.
The OPS has just released for broadcast on state-run television and radio stations and on ABS-CBN a supposed documentary extolling the achievements of President Estrada and criticizing the performance of his predecessors, former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos.
Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora denied yesterday the accusation of the Vice President that Malacañang is trying to convince jueteng lord Bong Pineda to testify on her alleged jueteng links in Pampanga.
Arroyo’s camp claimed that Philippine National Police chief Panfilo Lacson went to the US to convince Pineda to testify in the separate impeachment complaint against her filed at the House. "I was really surprised by this (rumor). I’ve just read this in newspapers. There is no such plan and there is no such activity," Zamora said. Malacañang did not inform the public on the specific nature of Lacson’s sudden trip to the US.
December 5, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF waylays Cotabato farmers, by John Unson,
COTABATO CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels ambushed yesterday a convoy of vehicles transporting farm products to the town proper of Carmen town in North Cotabato, killing a farmer and wounding two others.
The attacks came a week after the Army’s 602nd Brigade, which has jurisdiction over the area, launched a local peace program aimed at fostering Muslim and Christian solidarity in Carmen and nearby towns. Major Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, identified the slain farmer as Rolito Oyaman, who died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds in different parts of the body.
Two other farmers, Valentino Cañeteb and Mando Dulce, who were wounded in the attack, were rushed to a hospital here for treatment. The victims were on their way to the town proper of Carmen when the rebels, positioned on one side of the road in Barangay Rancho of the same town, opened fire with B-40 rockets and automatic rifles.
Col. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., commander of the 602nd Brigade, said the attack was another attempt to embarrass the military in North Cotabato, which has recently embarked on low-level humanitarian projects designed to promote reconciliation of the Muslims and Christians in Carmen.
Just last week, the brigade opened to the public a newly built mosque inside near its parade ground, built through the efforts of Muslims and Christian soldiers assigned in the area. Meanwhile, 600 more members of the MILF are set to surrender to President Estrada and pledge allegiance to the government this month, key military sources said yesterday.
Major Johnny Macanas, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said final negotiations are now underway for the date of the surrender rites, to take place at the 4th ID’s headquarters in Cagayan de Oro City.
More than a thousand MILF fighters from Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte had earlier yielded to the 4th ID, after the fall of 20 rebel enclaves in the two provinces which soldiers overrun in offensives that lasted from March to August this year.
According to Macanas, the next batch of MILF rebels to surrender to President Estrada were enticed to return to the fold of law after the government had addressed the needs of their comrades who had earlier pledged allegiance to the government.
December 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF calls surrender of 600 men propaganda, by John Unson,
COTABATO CITY — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front dismissed yesterday as "propaganda" the report that 600 of its members will surrender this month in Cagayan de Oro City. "There are some local officials now collaborating with the military in projecting that there are legitimate surrenders of MILF members when in fact there are none," Al-Haj Murad, MILF's military chief, told The STAR through a two-way radio.
Murad's reaction came a day after the Army's 4th Infantry Division claimed that 600 MILF fighters in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte would voluntarily surrender to President Estrada in Cagayan de Oro City this month.
Maj. Johnny Macanas, 4th ID's spokesman, said negotiations are now underway for the date of the surrender rites, to be capped with the pledging of allegiance by the rebels to the government in the presence of the President.
"We have confirmed that these alleged MILF members are just being used to boost the image of some local officials who are projecting that they are instrumental for the surrender of these people," Murad said. Eid Kabalu, the MILF's spokesman, said on the contrary, two more battalion-size guerrilla groups have been organized by their commanders in Lanao del Sur last month.
"It's very easy to gather jobless people in big cities and let them pretend they are rebels and participate in a surrender ceremony," Kabalu said. Kabalu said most of the firearms turned over by the rebels who surrendered recently to the military in batches were old and defective, indicating that these events were simulated.
Since last July, more than a thousand MILF fighters have yielded to the government and received livelihood assistance from the government in exchange for the firearms they have turned in. Relatedly, the MILF denied yesterday the reported involvement of its guerrillas in the ambush over the weekend of a convoy of vehicles in Carmen, North Cotabato which left a Christian farmer dead and two other innocent commuters wounded.
Kabalu said the ambush in Barangay Rancho in Carmen could have been perpetrated in retaliation for the killing earlier in the same spot of two Muslims by suspected militiamen. "The police and military should first investigate deeper into that angle before accusing the MILF of perpetrating the ambush," Kabalu said.
December 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, Government officials ink pact on South's development,
Mindanao and Palawan-based government officials agreed yesterday to streamline and harmonize their policies and procedures to hasten the development of Southern Philippines as a major trade and investment area.
The agreement was forged at the end of the first-ever immigration, customs, quarantine and security workshop held at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.
Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez, who chaired the two-day meeting, said a memorandum of agreement was signed establishing an interagency committee that will address not only security in Mindanao and Palawan but also promote the region as an alternative trade and investment destination.
Rodriguez said the committee will identify existing procedures, rules and regulations that need to be simplified or streamlined to assure the freer and faster movement of people, goods and services across the region.
The conferees also cited the need to keep their rules and regulations at par with global standards designed to liberalize trade and investment policies. They, likewise, vowed to continue consulting with the private sector in determining which of their policies should be reviewed or amended to address the concerns of businessmen and investors.
Rodriguez disclosed that the workshop is in preparation for the first Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines — East Asian Growth Area conference to be held in Zamboanga in March next year.
The Philippines, according to Rodriguez, will propose during the said conference the harmonization and streamlining of policies and procedures in the four Asian countries in order to facilitate the development of East Asia as major trade and investment area. — Rey Arquiza
December 6, 2000, The Philippine Star, God gave Estrada to Filipinos, by Jess Diaz,
Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin should hear what a pro-administration congressman said yesterday: It was God who gave us President Estrada.
In a privilege speech entitled "A Discernment into the Crisis," Deputy Speaker Agapito Aquino (LAMP, Makati City) said every Filipino should see in the President his own weaknesses. Aquino stressed that "Erap is only a mirror of the Filipino people."
"God has given us in this man a sign that we may recognize ourselves. We react in anger when this sign is placed before us and we would smash it as an abomination. But the anger is only at ourselves," Aquino said.
He said in the entire history of the Republic, there has never been as "public a sinner" as Mr. Estrada who at the same time is the nation's leader. "His sinfulness, his weaknesses, are for a purpose. And God will use the very sin to save his people," he added.
If the President is removed from office, that would not amount to anything unless the people exorcise themselves of the "evil, the injustices, the perversions, and weaknesses" in themselves, he said.
"A move for his ouster should be aimed not merely at the physical man, but should be directed beyond him or his office into the rejection of all that is evil in all of us that is so exemplified in him and in his actuations; to ask for his resignation is to declare war against all that he represents in us," he said. However, Aquino said Mr. Estrada could use his own example to turn around the nation from its sinfulness and weaknesses. "If Erap fails to heed the call of the spirit, he will be anathema in history... he could lead this country into untold heights of greatness and dignity. The nation's coming to its own must start with Erap. And the time is now," he said.
Reacting to Aquino's privilege speech, a Tarlac congressman said: "He should speak for himself and his Ateneo classmate." Aquino was thrust to the deputy speakership post when the political party he belongs to, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), decided to stick it out with the Estrada in the wake of the jueteng scandal.
LDP is headed by Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara, Mr. Estrada's running mate in the 1998 elections who lost to Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. A group within Angara's party calling itself the "conscience bloc" has supported the impeachment complaint against the President.
The bloc includes Representatives Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya, Roan Libarios of Agusan del Norte and Oscar Rodriguez of Pampanga. Libarios and Rodriguez are among the 11 members of the House panel prosecuting the impeachment charges against the President. - Jess Diaz
December 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military officer sowing dissension in ranks Aguirre, by Paolo Romero,
For the first time, the government acknowledged yesterday that there is an attempt within the military to oppose the President.
A senior military officer was found encouraging his comrades to take a mass leave to force President Estrada to resign over the jueteng bribery scandal, National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre revealed yesterday.
"We have received a report about a person or a military officer close to a high official in position to be the one doing the rounds and making agitation," Aguirre said. However, he refused to identify the officer.
Aguirre added only that the officer is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), and has been egging his former classmates to go on leave.
"Fortunately, he was voted down by his classmates," he said. Aguirre said his information on the officer came from the officer's former classmates who decided to remain neutral in the current political crisis gripping the nation.
But the government will not yet take action because the officer is not committing an act that can be considered as treason or sedition, Aguirre said.
"Only a proposal to commit sedition, treason and rebellion is punishable. Proposing to take a mass leave cannot fall under treason or sedition," he explained.
There were reports earlier that military and police officers belonging to the PMA classes of 1976 and 1978 plan to go on mass leave.
Aguirre said they have not received any leave applications so far.
A group of retired military and police officers, led by former army general Fortunato Abat, earlier urged their comrades in the active service to take action and persuade Mr. Estrada, their own commander-in-chief, to step down.
They made it clear that they are opposed to any attempt to take over the government by force.
Despite that, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado accused Abat's group of trying to trigger a military takeover of the government.
"That does not make their statements any less irresponsible," Mercado said. "Military intervention and the option to use force always go together. To ask for one without the other is inconsistent. Our soldiers are trained in the use of force. That is their profession. We do not train our soldiers just so they can wear uniforms and march around."
Mercado said they could have avoided fueling "political hysteria" by simply airing their sentiments to him or Gen. Angelo Reyes,the armed forces chief.
"Let's face it, everything's about politics here. These retired generals are politicians," he said. Mercado warned that they can be criminally charged for inciting the military to be disloyal to the government or a duly-elected president.
"Unless he issues patently illegal orders to them, our military is bound to obey the President and follow the chain of command," he said. He is confident that the military will remain neutral during the political crisis.
Aside from Abat's group, a group of active military officers recently put out an open letter to Mr. Estrada in the form of a newspaper advertisement.
They accused Mr. Estrada of playing favorites by promoting two officers perceived to be loyal to him.
They suspected it to be an attempt to place the military under his political control. They vowed not to allow themselves to be used to muzzle the anti-Estrada protests clamoring for the President’s resignation over the jueteng scandal.
Mercado denied that the group existed, saying that the military is solidly behind the President. Malacañang accused the political opposition of placing the advertisement to create a false impression that the military's support for Mr. Estrada is cracking.
The opposition denied the accusation and said that the group of military officers does exist.
December 7, 2000, The Philippine Star, Prosecutors to present 54 witnesses, by Perseus Echeminada,
The prosecution in the impeachment trial against President Estrada will present a total of 54 witnesses in a span of 34 days, House Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City) said yesterday. Earlier yesterday, defense and prosecution lawyers fought over the number and identities of witnesses in the impeachment trial against the President, which opens today at the Senate.
The trial lawyers held a closed-door meeting with Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., presiding officer of the Senate impeachment tribunal, to resolve the disputes and try to set the timetable for the impeachment hearings, the first in Asia.
Emerging from the pre-trial conference, Belmonte, chairman of the 11- member prosecution panel from the House of Representatives, said they also agreed to try to complete the trial in 34 days. The conference was held in a bid to iron out kinks and ensure a speedy and orderly trial of the President, who faces charges of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
The tribunal has so far summoned presidential son and San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, erstwhile presidential ally Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Roberto Lastimoso, Presidential Assistant for Bicol Affairs Anton Prieto and Yolanda Ricaforte, wife of Tourism Undersecretary Orestes Ricaforte, to testify.
Belmonte said the number of witnesses and period of trial may be reduced if oral depositions were allowed. He also said the senators were amenable to the plan to distribute the opening statements on the articles of impeachment among the prosecutors.
As agreed upon, Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol will head the group that will present the bribery charges, Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo will handle the graft and corruption aspect, Quezon Rep. Wigberto Tañada on culpable violation of the Constitution and Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno for betrayal of public trust.
Apostol, who will set the pace for today's hearing, said his introduction may take at least one hour, thereby allowing for only one witness to be presented. "It is either Prieto or anyone available today," he said. He revealed that under the original plan, 10 witnesses will be presented on the bribery charge, 25 on graft and corruption, seven on betrayal of public trust and 12 on culpable violation of the Constitution.
Mr. Estrada has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including taking more than P400 million in bribes from illegal gambling operators, embezzling tobacco excise taxes, and shielding business cronies targeted by government regulators.
The prosecution panel also wanted the First Lady, Dr. Luisa "Loi" Ejercito, and five alleged presidential mistresses to take the witness stand. But the defense lawyers have vowed to oppose plans to subpoena the women, with Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora insisting that asking them to testify is irrelevant to the case.
"This is not material to what the articles of impeachment say," Zamora noted. Moreno argued, however, that ordering the women to take the stand "is a matter of right and doesn't need court intervention." The prosecutors also wanted to inspect the mansions allegedly being built for Mr. Estrada's extended family, but the defense was also blocking that attempt.
"They are just trying to introduce the mansion issue into the articles of impeachment," Zamora said, adding that the mansions were only borrowed or rented. Mr. Estrada, who has reportedly sired seven children with five women other than his wife, said he was leaving it to the tribunal whether to call his mistresses or not. "It is up to them (jurors). I will not interfere. I will depend on my lawyers," he said.
Former senator and now Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera, a complainant in the impeachment case, said he has suggested that former movie actress Laarni Enriquez should be the first of the presidential mistresses to be called to the stand. Herrera said Enriquez, who bore the President three children, appeared to have the "most controversial and scandalous mansion" among the mistresses. The house, being built on a 5,000-square-meter property at the posh Wack Wack subdivision in Mandaluyong City, reportedly has a floor area of 2,800 sq. m.
The master's bedroom alone is about 270 sq. m., the size of a big homelot for middle-income families, while the toilet measures 90 sq. m. which is equivalent to two so-called economy lots. Enriquez's mansion has a gymnasium, four kitchens and a beauty parlor. Another mansion identified with Enriquez is the so-called "Boracay" in New Manila, Quezon City.
The houses are reportedly worth P250 million each. The Boracay mansion is in the name of former Presidential Adviser on Housing Jose Luis Yulo, but the prosecutors doubted Yulo's capacity to own such an expensive property since a local bank had once sued him for non-payment of P100,000 in credit card bills.
Herrera also denounced the use of soldiers and policemen detailed with the Presidential Security Group (PSG) to protect the President's extended family. The congressman said this belies the report by PSG chief Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim that his command protects only the official First Family.
Herrera said one of the mistresses frequently seen in public places has at least 10 PSG escorts and travels in a convoy of security vehicles bearing the PSG logo. "We do not question the provision of security to the First Family. That is the job of the PSG, but taxpayers should not be made to pay for the vices of the President. They should not be made to subsidize his other women," Herrera said.
Defense lawyer wants names of all witnesses
Defense lawyer Jose Flaminiano accused the prosecutors of refusing to reveal the names of their witnesses. "In ordinary criminal trials, whenever there is information filed against an accused, the name of all the witnesses are already listed in the face of the information so that the defense will not be taken by surprise," Flaminiano pointed out.
Former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, also a member of the defense panel, said the prosecution's strategy would result in delays as the defense would be forced to call for a postponement before cross-examining the surprise witnesses. The prosecutors have claimed that their witnesses were being followed and threatened, hence the need to conceal their identities.
Davide said yesterday's meeting was meant to make the two sides agree on the number of witnesses to be presented, put a time limit on direct testimonies and cross-examinations, and fix the timetable for the termination of the trial. A worst-case scenario is a protracted legal battle which Economic Planning Secretary Felipe Medalla said would slow down economic growth next year to about two percent or half of this year's target. The prosecutors have pledged to speed up presentation of their case to enable the tribunal to reach a verdict by early February.
'This is it,' Villar says
Former Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. said the impeachment trial which rolls off today will be the "ultimate forum" for the embattled President to answer all the accusations against him. "This is it. He asked for his day in court and he will get it," Villar said.
He said the trial proper would be the "perfect opportunity" for Mr. Estrada to refute the charges. "If he is innocent, he must present hard evidence to prove it as Filipinos want to know the whole truth." As Speaker, the Las Piñas congressman played a key role in impeaching Mr. Estrada.
The case was subsequently elevated to the Senate for trial. Under the Constitution, it would take two-thirds vote of the senators, acting as impeachment tribunal, to convict the President. At the same time, Villar appealed to the presidential lawyers to avoid delaying the trial on the basis of technicalities.
"This will be a test if the country's democratic processes work," Villar said in a statement. "We definitely need this trial to be credible if we want the political uncertainty to end." In another development, former Senate President Arturo Tolentino urged both the pro-Estrada and anti-Estrada camps to refrain from conducting further rallies in deference to the impeachment trial. "The Senate should first be allowed to continue with its functions as jurors. But when judgment day comes, then it is time for the people to react," Tolentino said. He said the conduct of rallies even as the impeachment hearings were ongoing would muddle the constitutional process as the jurors might be pressured.
"The rule of the masses should be suspended in the meantime so that the rule of law may prevail," he said in a taped message. The tape was played during the launching of the Sandigan or Citizens Movement to Respect and Defend the Constitution at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.
He added that the people must be ready to react whatever verdict the Senate tribunal hands down. He also said that it is not necessary to prove beyond reasonable doubt whether the President is guilty. "All we need is to be assured that the senators will vote based on their conscience." — With reports from Jess Diaz, Marichu Villanueva, Non Alquitran
December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, German mag dared to substantiate rap, by Paolo Romero,
An irate presidential adviser Robert Aventajado dared yesterday the German magazine Der Spiegel to substantiate its charges that he and President Estrada pocketed about $6 million in ransom payments to the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf earlier this year.
This developed as former President Fidel Ramos urged the government to investigate the allegations, which he described as "very serious."
Andreas Lorenz, an editor of Der Spiegel, was among local and foreign journalists abducted by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists while covering the six-month hostage drama in Jolo, Sulu earlier this year.
Aventajado, who acted as chief government negotiator with the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, angrily denied the accusations. "These are all lies. I have never received any money (from the ransom payments), much less the President. They have to bring out whatever evidence they have."
Quoting the German secret police,Der Spiegel in its issue due for release today claimed that Mr. Estrada and Aventajado took 40 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from a $20-million ransom payment for the freedom of certain hostages of the Abu Sayyaf.
The German weekly said the secret police obtained the information by tapping satellite telephone conversations between Aventajado and the kidnappers.
"I flatly deny it and I guess I can also speak for the President since I was the chief negotiator," Aventajado said as he noted it was timed for the start of the impeachment trial against Mr. Estrada.
"If it were true there were taped conversations, then I should be given a medal because they could listen to the sacrifices I’ve made," Aventajado said.
He also tried to turn the tables on the Germans by saying the German secret police planned to abduct Renate Wallert, one of the 10 foreigners snatched by Abu Sayyaf gunmen from a resort in Sipadan, Malaysia last April 20, from the negotiators’ custody and demand ransom from their own government.
Aventajado said upon receiving the report, he ordered a tight security for Wallert to foil the kidnap plot.
He also said it was possible that a Filipino journalist related to a ranking member of the Makati Business Club was behind Der Spiegel’s allegations.
He said he has been consulting with his lawyers on the possibility of filing libel charges against the German magazine.
Press Secretary Ricardo Puno Jr. said the Palace stands by Aventajado’s denial even as he noted that Der Spiegel’s accusations were vague.
"Let’s see first if someone is coming out and make this specific accusation if the money was really paid. This could again later be denied," Puno said.
Meanwhile, Ramos said his sources in Jolo have told him dollars were awash in the island shortly after the foreign hostages were freed, but government authorities repeatedly denied ransoms were paid.
Ramos, who has joined mounting calls for Mr. Estrada to step down, said European and German law enforcement agencies were generally very "conservative and cautious" about making such statements, and for them to be attributed as the source makes the allegations very serious.
"Somebody must come clean about this from within the Philippines," Ramos said in an interview withABS-CBN.
Abu Sayyaf gunmen snatched 21 Asian and European hostages in April from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan.
The kidnappers, led by Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot, reportedly raked in millions of dollars for the release of the captives.
More people were seized later including a handful of journalists covering the drama, prompting the military to launch an all-out rescue operation to end the hostage crisis which lasted six months.
The assault resulted in the safe recovery of 12 Filipino preachers headed by evangelist Wilde Almeda of the Jesus Miracle Crusade.
An American Muslim convert and a Filipino dive instructor remain in the hands of the bandits.
Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said the country’s image as a "pariah among international investors" would be boosted if Mr. Estrada failed to credibly refute the German magazine’s accusation.
"This certainly adds fuel to the fire. In the scandal meter, this is ten times bigger than the bribery and corruption charges the President is facing in the impeachment trial," Recto said in a statement.
The Batangas congressman, who bolted the ruling Laban ng Masang Pilipino following charges that Mr. Estrada received more than P400 million in bribes from illegal gambling operators, said the new scandal "will not only hurt the country’s already battered image, but its battered economy as well."
"The Philippines will not only suffer a black eye from these charges. Its whole body will be black and blue," Recto said.
"Even among hard-nosed investors, this type of crime, which is akin to stealing from church alms, will strike a sensitive cord in them," he added.
He also stressed that in today’s "globalized economy," if a national leader is portrayed as a rogue, the economy is affected one way or another.
He said publicly listed companies can be pressured by their investors to temporarily skip the Philippines and European governments can be pressured by civic groups to withhold funding for the Philippines until its leader "shaped up or be shipped out." – With Liberty Dones
December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Even in Islam Estrada won't find moral solace, by Ding Cervantes,
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — President Estrada cannot find moral redemption even in the Muslim religion which allows a man to have more than one wife. In fact, Mr. Estrada would probably have been meted the death penalty had he been a Muslim, said party-list Rep. Muhammad Omar Fajardo, a Muslim who represents the overseas Filipino workers' sector.
"For one thing, the Muslim religion can never be a religion of convenience," he said. Nevertheless, the tenets of Islam, Fajardo said, disqualify the President, and he cites several reasons for this. "While Muslim men are allowed more than one wife, the number of wives is limited to a maximum of four," he said, noting reports that Mr. Estrada allegedly has more "partners."
And then, too, the Muslim religion specifies wives, not mistresses. "Maintaining mistresses is something deserving of the death penalty according to the Koran," Fajardo said. But granting that Mr. Estrada, as a Muslim, would marry three of his alleged mistresses to meet the maximum number of four wives, he would have to abandon his other alleged mistresses.
Fajardo said Mr. Estrada would also fail in the requirement that a Muslim man ought to treat his women fairly and provide for them equally. "Reports that he seems to pamper Laarni Enriquez with mansions is already an indication that he has not treated his women equally," Fajardo added.
With Guia Gomez, with whom the President sired JV Ejercito, reportedly engaging in several businesses, Mr. Estrada faces another disqualification, the lawmaker said. "The Muslim religion does not allow wives to be the breadwinner," he said. "While the wife can be allowed to work, the money she earns cannot be shared with the husband."
Fajardo, 41, said he himself now has only one wife. A second wife had died, while he had divorced another. He said that while Muslim men are allowed to marry women belonging to other religions, Muslim women cannot marry men from other faiths. Fajardo said majority of Muslims in Mindanao do not support the President for his lifestyle that runs counter to Muslim ways.
But he admitted that some of the President's programs in Mindanao are initially attractive. He cited some presidential sorties to Mindanao wherein he awarded housing units to some families. "But the fact is that such strategies seem to be only for show, considering the number of Mindanaoans who are in need of housing," he added.
December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Government signs peace pact with ABB, by Antonieta Lopez,
DON SALVADOR BENEDICTO, Negros Occidental -- President Estrada witnessed here yesterday the signing of a peace agreement with a breakaway communist insurgent faction and said he hopes the pact can be replicated with other rebel groups around the country.
The President flew to Bacolod City yesterday after earlier announcing a major breakthrough in peace talks with the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino-Revolutionary Proletariat Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB).
The ceremonial signing signaled the start of a ceasefire between the government and the RPMP-RPA-ABB, paving the way for formal negotiations between communist leaders and the government panel headed by Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara.
Mr. Estrada turned over a check for P45 million as part of P500-million livelihood assistance to the Salvador Benedicto Cassava, Corn and Coffee Planters Multi-Purpose Cooperative. Most of the members of the cooperative are rebel returnees.
"With the cessation of armed hostilities... we can now explore a more lasting cooperation with each other to address the root causes of armed conflict and achieve progress and development," the President said. "Hopefully this will be replicated nationwide."
Joining the President in yesterday's signing was businessman and former ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., whom he introduced as a "good friend" and the "intervenor" in the negotiations.
It marked the first time the two friends were seen in public since the jueteng scandal broke out early in October.
A majority of the landholdings of the Cojuangcos are located in this town, about 47 kilometers northwest of Bacolod. Don Salvador Benedicto has been made the stronghold of the RPA after its separation from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) in 1993. The breakaway group has clashed with both the government and the CPP-NPA in the past.
RPA national commander Carapali Lualhati dismissed yesterday allegations that the faction has become a private army for Cojuangco and the town mayor.
Lualhati said they would implement a ceasefire but their troops would remain in the countryside.
"The peace settlement is not a surrender by our group, and we will continue police functions during the ceasefire period," the communist leader said.
The rebels also asked for political reforms and called impeachment proceedings against the President a waste of time.
Mr. Estrada is being tried in the Senate on charges he accepted hundreds of millions of pesos in payoffs from illegal gambling operators and kickbacks from tobacco taxes. He has denied the allegations.
Lualhati joined communist chief negotiator Nilo de la Cruz and RPMP chairman Arturo Tabara in signing the peace pact. De la Cruz once headed the ABB, a former communist assassination squad blamed for killing of dozens of policemen, politicians and soldiers in Metro Manila in the 1980s.
In recent years, the ABB has mainly attacked facilities of the country's oil companies to protest oil price increases.
Angara, designated as panel head after the resignation of former Commission on Elections chairman Haydee Yorac, signed for the government.
The agriculture secretary hailed the signing, calling it "a milestone in the solution to the 30-year-old war being waged by insurgents."
Negros Occidental Gov. Rafael Coscolluela, who was among the original members of the government panel, was not invited to the signing.
Accused by critics of trying to derail the peace process, Coscolluela was replaced by Rep. Julio Ledesma (1st district, Negros Occidental). -- With Paolo Romero
December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Muslim groups pray for Estrada ouster nightly,
COTABATO CITY — Influential groups of Muslim leaders and young professionals have been secretly holding evening Ramadan prayers for the ouster of President Estrada, key sources from the Islamic religious community said.
One of the sources, a foreign-trained imam (Muslim priest), who works for an agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said at least five groups of young Muslims, some of them career employees of the government, gather in different houses every night and hold their congregational prayers after breaking their fast at dusk.
Muslims fast during the day for one lunar cycle or 30 days during the Ramadan, which started last Nov. 27. "This group prayer meetings started after the activation of the impeachment court now prosecuting President Estrada," said the source, who asked to be identified only as Ustadz Tahir.
The nightly prayers were said to have been organized by student leaders from Catholic and state-run universities who have been extremely critical of the government's pacification campaign in Central Mindanao which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and the displacement of thousands of civilians, mostly ethnic Muslims.
"We decide during the day where to hold the prayers and then gather in the agreed venue before sunset. We break our fast and then hold the prayers," said a 24-year-old, who identified himself only as Moksim. "We do nothing bad. We only pray that the litigation of the impeachment case the President now faces will be guided by divine wisdom and that justice for the Filipinos will prevail," said a female Maranaw teacher.
Al-Haj Murad, MILF military chief, said he has been receiving feedback, too, that some of their field commanders have also been gathering at night to pray for the conviction of President Estrada and immediate resolution of the Mindanao conflict. "But I think the prayers are focused more on the resolution of the government conflict. Because we don't recognize the government anyway so the controversy now hounding President Estrada is practically nothing to us," Murad said in an interview via two-way radio.
December 11, 2000, The Philippine Star, Cory Luisita probe a retaliation, by Ding Cervantes,
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Former President Corazon Aquino said the government's move to look into the stock distribution option (SDO) scheme of Hacienda Luisita, which her family owns, is a clear case of "retaliation" against her for campaigning for the resignation of President Estrada.
"It's very clear (that the case was meant to harass)," Mrs. Aquino said in an interview after she attended a huge rally seeking Mr. Estrada's ouster in Barangay Magliman here last Saturday. Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio Morales has ordered an inquiry into Hacienda Luisita's SDO scheme due to alleged violations of farmworkers' rights by the Cojuangco clan.
Morales claimed many farmworkers at the sugar estate have been laid off, while large portions of land have been converted into commercial use without the consent of the farmer-beneficiaries. "It's clear that when you go against the President or the administration, you can expect some retaliation," Mrs. Aquino said.
She said, however, that she experienced no other forms of harassment since she came out in public to press for Mr. Estrada's resignation. "I don't answer the telephone at home in the first place," she said. Mrs. Aquino's younger bro-ther, former Rep. Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, earlier had dismissed Morales' allegations, saying that Morales and Mr. Estrada were the ones creating conflict where there was none.
The other day, Fernando Cojuangco, corporate legal counsel of Hacienda Luisita Inc., welcomed Morales' order for a review of the hacienda's SDO scheme. "This will be an opportunity for us to formally (confront) the supposed complaints in a proper forum and enlighten the public on the true state of affairs in the hacienda," he said in a statement.
The SDO was adopted as another scheme for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) launched during Mrs. Aquino's incumbency. Then Agrarian Reform Secretary Miriam Defensor-Santiago, now among the senator-jurors in the impeachment case against the President, backed the SDO scheme.
Some members of the United Luisita Workers' Union alleged that the SDO scheme which called for the distribution of shares and 240-square-meter lots to 7,000 families employed by the sugar estate was not implemented. Earlier, Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had warned of a "new chapter of political repression" amid the impeachment case against Mr. Estrada.
She cited the case of her chief of staff, lawyer Renato Corona, who reported that National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to enter his home in Quezon City recently, purportedly to do a background check in connection with his possible appointment to the judiciary. Corona said, however, that he had never applied for any government position, adding that the incident was apparently meant to harass him because of his links to the opposition.
December 12, 2000, The Philippine Star, Editorial, Where are the Abu Sayyaf terrorists?,
This is one story that refuses to go away. Before Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson plunged the administration into its worst crisis, the Islamic fundamentalist group Abu Sayyaf hogged the headlines. For many months the nation and the world watched as the Sulu-based faction of the group negotiated for millions of dollars in exchange for its mostly foreign hostages. Even as the group released some of its hostages, more were snatched for replenishment, triggering a fresh round of negotiations.
Reports said Sulu was awash with greenbacks, with the dollar trading much lower in the island's black market. The Abu Sayyaf's high-profile leader, Ghalib "Commander Robot" Andang, revealed plans to buy an orchard or start a livelihood project in his retirement. In the meantime, the rebels bought up all the weapons they could lay their hands on, as well as motorcycles and supplies. The French, Germans, Libyans and Malaysians coughed up ransom money of up to $20 million -- about $1 million per hostage.
Even back then there was persistent talk of government negotiators getting a cut from the ransom money. The rumors naturally were denied. Now the rumors have been revived by a report yesterday in the respected German magazine Der Spiegel, alleging that not only chief government negotiator Robert Aventajado but President Estrada himself got a hefty share from the ransom money. As expected, the story has been denied by Aventajado, as vehemently as he used to deny that ransom was paid for any of the hostages. Will this matter ever be cleared up? Not during the impeachment trial.
But even with the trial going on, the government can continue its manhunt for the Abu Sayyaf. Where are Andang, Mujib Susukan, Abu Sabaya and the leader of the original terrorist group, Khadafi Janjalani? Are they enjoying the spoils of their caper? The terrorists still have two hostages -- a Filipino and an American. What has happened to these captives? Catching Andang will be the best vindication of the government's protracted assault on Abu Sayyaf lairs. Catching him may also explain what has happened to the multimillion-dollar ransom.
December 14, 2000, The Philippine Star, Op-Ed, Suddenly, Erap needs Abu Sayyaf to clear him, by Federico D. Pascual,
SEN. Miriam Defensor Santiago again surprised many yesterday when she offered legal opinion in the impeachment trial that the House prosecution team may be allowed the discretion of retaining private lawyers to assist it.
Her stand was in stark contrast to the stiff objections of lawyers of President Estrada and of some senator-judges, including Juan Ponce Enrile, who had wanted to confine to the congressmen of the Housr’s team of prosecutors the chore of pursuing the impeachment case.
Santiago was the last to speak before Chief Justice Hilario Davide handed down a ruling that allowed the prosecution to engage the services of private lawyers.
That paved the way for Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson to testify under direct examination of a private lawyer.
* * *
DAYS ago, Santiago also surprised many when she disagreed with Enrile, considered her senior, who was pursuing a line parallel to that of the defense on whether a presidential assistant, Anton Prieto, then testifying as witness, was an adverse or a hostile witness.
So far, among the senators generally perceived as pro-Estrada, only Santiago has openly spoken or given important legal opinion not conducive to the defense of President Estrada.
* * *
IN defending himself against bribery and payola charges, President Estrada will have to insist that he never received the millions allegedly given or delivered to him by Singson.
The President can very well say that, and has in fact been saying it when pressed by media, since conceivably he is not so stupid as to sign a receipt. While big money may have been going around in some Malacañang circles, the defense can be expected to say that no amount went as high up as the President.
Granting that P5 million in one-million-peso bundles were indeed delivered by witness Emma Lim to a Malou (said to be a secretary of the President ) in Malacañang, the defense could very well say that that Malou is not President Estrada.
* * *
IN other words, the defense can show that there is no direct link such as maybe a receipt signed by the President or a videotape recording showing that Mr. Estrada actually received any amount.
But why would P5 million be given to a "mere" secretary by Governor Singson? That is illogical, unless we allow the likelihood that the money was intended for the President himself, and that his secretary merely received it for him.
* * *
THIS is the same scenario in the case of a P200-million check allegedly given to the President’s private lawyer, Edward Serapio, and deposited in the President’s foundation for Muslim scholars.
It can be argued again by the defense that there is no receipt signed by the President or some hard evidence that the money was actually received by the President himself or that he eventually got it.
(While confirming that his lawyer accepted the check and that the money was deposited in the account of the foundation, President Estrada has told the media that the money was still in the bank waiting to be used as evidence. Against whom, he did not say.)
* * *
THE lawyer of Commander Robot, a colorful leader of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang in Sulu, said that his client was about to surrender, probably before the end of the year.
If he does yield, it would mean that the Abu Sayyaf and the Estrada administration, which had vowed to crush the kidnap-for-ransom band, have arrived at a settlement of sorts.
It so happened that President Estrada suddenly needs Commander Robot to tell the world that Erap Estrada did not get a single cent from the ransom that the kidnap gang had collected for releasing their victims.
After the lives and the property lost and the hundreds of millions spent pursuing the kidnappers, after the military announced that it had the gang encircled, et cetera, here comes Commander Robot with a smirk virtually dictating the terms of settlement.
* * *
ANOTHER controversial settlement covers the proposed freeing from sequestration of a substantial portion of disputed coconut levy funds and transferring it allegedly to the effective control of presidential crony Danding Cojuangco.
The coco funds, representing 30 million shares or 27 percent of San Miguel Corp., are still under litigation before the Sandiganbayan.
Executive Orders 312 and 313, signed by President Estrada last month, took the disputed coco funds from the graft court for use of a proposed trust fund for coconut farmers. Small farmers are reportedly not represented in the body formed to oversee the use of the multibillion-peso trust fund.
The Sandiganbayan, in an order issued by Justice Francis Garchitorena, has blocked the implementation of the executive orders. Garchitorena told Malacañang to lay off since, he said, the money was still under the care of the court.
* * *
IT might seem like a minor item, but many TV viewers have expressed concern that undue coaching of the senator-judges could be done from outside the Senate premises via cellular phones. Some senators have been seen using their phones while sitting as judges.
Some interested parties monitoring the proceedings on a TV screen outside the Senate conceivably could be sending via cellphones instructions to selected senators to stand and register some legal point.
Were the senators only jurors, and not also judges, they could be cut off from the outside world and not be allowed cellphones and other modes of communication that could open them to tampering or undue influence.
* * *
ALSO on cellphones, we were almost shouting "Don't give it!" when witness Ma. Carmencita Itchon was asked yesterday by senator-judge Rene Cayetano to give out the phone number of officemate Yolanda Ricaforte that she had dialed while testifying.
As the trial was being televised to a watching world, one can imagine how Ricaforte’s number and answering machine must now be clogged with calls.
The same thing happened when the cellphone number of suspected jueteng lord Bong Pineda, who flew to the United States before the start of last Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on alleged juetengpayola, was divulged by his wife Mayor Lilia Pineda who was then testifying in the public hearing.
* * *
IT was providential yesterday that defense counsel Raul Daza kept objecting to some questions and presentations of prosecution counsel Rep. Salacnib Baterina, who was then presenting witness Itchon.
That gave senator-judge Franklin Drilon the opportunity to remind everybody that the primary purpose of the process is to unearth the truth. He added that inconsequential objections only delay the proceedings and should be avoided.
He recalled that the Rules of Procedure governing the Senate trial provide that the rules of evidence would be liberally construed.
Elsewhere it has been said repeatedly that the impeachment trial is not a criminal proceeding, but is largely a political process. In this light, there is no requirement that conviction be beyond reasonable doubt.
* * *
IT'S probably a minor footnote to the impeachment trial, but so many people have asked us and so we are posing the question: How is "subpoena" pronounced?
The question arose because Chief Justice Hilario Davide pronounces the "oe" as two vowels (o-e), which is somewhat distracting to some listeners since almost everyone else in the chamber pronounces the "oe" either as a short "i" (i) or as a long "e" (ee).
We checked several dictionaries and confirmed that the generally acceptable pronunciation of "oe" in "subpoena" is as a long "e" represented in the phonetic alphabet as [i:] as in "beat" and "meet." As for the accent or stress, it is on the "oe" vowel sound.
Some dictionaries mute the "b" in the first syllable. Try pronouncing "subpoena" with a silent "b" and see how smoothly it slides.
Subpoena, by the way, is derived from the Latin "sub" (under) and "poena" (penalty), or "under penalty . . ." which are the usual first two words of the writ or order for somebody being summoned.
December 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, Editorial, Guarding against dirty money,
In the unfolding drama at the Senate, there's another institution on trial -- the country's banking system. Proving charges of bribery and corruption against President Estrada could hinge on documents and testimony from several banks. This week there were fears that the banks would stonewall, invoking bank secrecy laws, consequently aiding the President's defense.
There's a price for stonewalling, however. Equitable-PCIBank, whose owner is known to be a presidential friend, is scrambling to preserve its credibility after its apparent initial reluctance to comply with a subpoena from the Senate which is sitting as an impeachment court. After incurring the ire of the court's presiding officer, Chief Justice Hilario Davide, the bank finally complied with the subpoena Tuesday night, turning over documents at the end of the day's proceedings.
In subsequent advertisements, Equitable-PCIBank explained that bank secrecy laws hampered its compliance with the court's order. It said that if government officials wanted to change bank secrecy regulations, Congress should amend the law. Until yesterday, no one was sure if disclosing the contents of the documents turned over by Equitable-PCIBank would violate bank secrecy laws.
Equitable nevertheless vowed it was committed to transparency and would assist in learning the truth in the impeachment trial. The public can only hope all Philippine banks have this commitment. Sound banking practices allowed the country to survive the 1997 financial crisis with less damage than its neighbors. There is room for further reforms, however, without compromising investor confidence. The Bank Secrecy Act protects bank clients from harassment, but other measures can be implemented to discourage the use of Philippine banks for money laundering.
A few months ago, the Philippines was tagged as one of several countries used as a haven for money laundering. While the basis for this tag was questioned by some quarters, the Philippine banking system can only get stronger if it can institute safeguards against dirty money.
December 17, 2000, The Philippine Star, Senators must decide if they are only judges, by Federico D. Pascual,
While the ruling of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. allowing the opening of the bank records on the Valhalla account appeared to have favored the prosecution in the impeachment trial of President Estrada, it is too early for them to rejoice.
First, despite the statement of Rep. Joker Arroyo of the prosecution that their case depended on those records, it is too early to assess their probative value. It could turn out that the P142-million Valhalla check was not signed by President Estrada as Arroyo alleged.
Second, as announced by Sen. John Osmeña of the pro-Estrada bloc in the Senate, a senator (himself?) might question the Davide ruling on Monday and force a vote on it. A simple majority could overturn the ruling.
Third, as intimated by defense lawyer Estelito Mendoza, this suki of the Supreme Court might just run to the high court to find relief for his client, the President. While the tribunal may rally around its chief despite the known influence of Mendoza in the premises, the defense could buy valuable time for other forces to work.
* * *
Opening of the Equitable-PCI Bank records will only confirm their existence, not necessarily confirm the direct participation of President Estrada in the preparation of the check.
The documents will still be several layers and several objections away from the left hand of Joseph Ejercito Estrada that Arroyo charged had actually signed the Valhalla check used to buy the Boracay mansion for a presidential mistress.
Even if the opening of the bank records would confirm reports from the banking grapevine that the secret account was opened by a presidential crony, a quantum legal leap is still required to conclude that the crony's act is that of the President.
* * *
The short cut across the chasm is the verification of the signature on the Valhalla check.
The Scotland Yard handwriting expert brought in by the prosecution could testify that the Jose Valhalla signature was indeed affixed by Joseph Ejercito Estrada.
We would then expect the President's defense team to produce its own expert, mercifully not from the National Bureau of Investigation!, to dispute the prosecution expert's opinion.
A side battle of experts would then erupt on the Senate floor, adding another delay to the proceedings and pushing farther away the direct linking of the President to the core charges.
* * *
With the expected delays (plural), the petulant prediction of John Osmeña that the impeachment case may just be decided next month without the Valhalla documents being entered as evidence would come to pass.
If the Valhalla papers' opening and acceptance is effectively blocked by the defense, and the prosecution loses the case (even if not necessarily for that reason), Arroyo is thus provided a ready excuse for his failure to prove the charges.
A defeated Arroyo could always say "natalo kasi ayaw ninyong buksan ang mga bank records."
* * *
The caucus tomorrow of the Chief Justice with the senators is crucial. Conceivably, the caucus would try first to draw out a consensus on whether or not Davide's ruling allowing the Valhalla records would stay.
Failing a consensus, the dissent would have to be resolved by a vote as provided under the Senate's rules of procedure. A simple majority vote among the 21 senators wins. (Davide is a non-voting president. Sen. Robert Barbers, who is abroad for medical treatment, has not taken his oath as judge.)
If Davide's ruling for opening the Valhalla records is affirmed, that's not the end of the tortuous legal trail. Mendoza has served notice that the defense might elevate the matter to the Supreme Court.
* * *
That's not the only contentious issue that may yet find its way to the Supreme Court.
One still unresolved question is whether or not the 11-man House prosecution team sent to the Senate trial may engage the services of private lawyers.
Chief Justice Davide has allowed it over the objections of the defense and despite a letter of House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella saying that private lawyers were not authorized by the chamber.
As it appears that the Senate would listen to the Speaker only if he presented a House resolution, the pro-Estrada elements in the House are now busy putting together such a resolution.
* * *
One question is whether or not the prosecution presentation conducted so far by a private lawyer would be stricken off the record if a House resolution were received by the Senate in the next few days.
We think that whatever has been entered into the record with the assistance of private lawyers, notably Simeon Marcelo who examined key witness Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, should stay.
The effects of any House resolution disallowing private lawyers assisting the prosecution should be prospective, not retroactive.
* * *
It is not the fault of the congressmen in the prosecution team that the House did not explicitly prohibit their engaging private lawyers. The team's job is to win the case and it is presumed to have been armed with plenary powers to do its job well.
The prosecution team should not now be punished for an omission that is not their fault. It should, in fact, be commended for its initiative of getting competent assistance in doing its difficult job.
Neither should the watching public be punished through the overhauling of the records and a re-enactment of the trial just because of an oversight of a negligent House.
Nor should the truth be the victim of partisan maneuvers in the House. Whether elicited by a congressman-lawyer or a private lawyer, the truth will still be the same truth.
* * *
It is not likely to happen, but suppose there were only five lawyers in the entire membership of the House of Representatives.
How can the chamber send an 11-member prosecution team composed exclusively of congressmen who are lawyers who are at the same time competent and in agreement with the filing of the impeachment charges? In such a situation, should not the House retain private lawyers?
Note also that the Constitution prohibits lawmakers from engaging in their profession. If congressmen-lawyers have not been practicing for years, how competent would they be in handling a difficult case?
It is absurd to adopt a general rule, as contemplated in the proposed House resolution, that only congressmen must actively prosecute an impeachment case.
* * *
The pro-Estrada leadership in the House seems to think that in this impeachment case versus the President, the complainant is the House of Representatives. It is not. Under Section 3, Article XI, the Constitution merely designates the House as the initiator of impeachment cases.
In the present case, the charges were in fact filed by some citizens' groups, with some congressmen merely affixing their signatures to endorse the charges.
In effect, the complainants are the "People of the Philippines," not the House of Representatives. But the title "People of the Philippines vs. President Joseph Ejercito Estrada" is avoided in the title of the case so as not to give the misimpression that it is a criminal case.
In practice, the plaintiff or complainant generally chooses his own lawyer.
* * *
Using an analogy frequently used, the complaining parties are the people, with the House being a kind of prosecutor or fiscal that checked if there is probable cause or a prima facie showing that the filing of charges is warranted. The Senate is the court or the judge trying the impeached President.
Public prosecutors or fiscals are sometimes assisted by private lawyers of complainants, although these lawyers act under the direction of the prosecutor. The private lawyers engaged so far in the impeachment case operated in the same manner also under the direction of the prosecution.
Why should we suddenly change this practice of allowing private lawyers just because Joseph Ejercito Estrada is the one facing charges? That's excessive pasipsip by administration congressmen.
* * *
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, for whatever reason, confronted Singson in Friday's hearing with some arithmetic error in ledgers that had been presented as evidence. Wittingly or unwittingly, Enrile thus gave Singson a chance to correct or explain away the error as part of his direct testimony.
The alacrity of Enrile in pouncing on the error was providential since it saved Singson the ordeal of having to face a sharp defense lawyer on cross-examination on the erroneous entries.
In the manipulative hands of the other party's lawyer doing a cross-examination, even a simple error could be blown out of proportion. But Singson was spared this.
The defense lawyers may want to ask the friends of the President among the senators to first coordinate with them before embarking on their own cross-examination of witnesses.
* * *
This brings us to a related point. Many people are laughing at the ridiculous titles being piled before the names of senators. They are not only senators and judges, but are also at times witnesses, defense/prosecution lawyers, friends of the court, and even court jesters. How do you roll into one all those titles?
As taxpayers, we want to remind senators that by their antics, they might just be destroying the very institution that has provided them a platform for projecting their alleged legal expertise in aid of reelection.
December 18, 2000, The Philippine Star, ARMM sectors decry absence of Nur led Ramadan festivities,
COTABATO CITY — For two years now, the office of Gov. Nur Misuari of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has not been keen on organizing festivities during the Ramadan, thus some sectors have doubted if his administration really intends to promote religious and cultural solidarity in the region.
Unlike his predecessors, former ARMM governors Zacaria Candao and Lininding Pangandaman, Misuari has never spearheaded religious and cultural activities during the Ramadan at the 32-hectare regional government compound here.
"How can we have these supposedly traditional festivities if our governor is not even around to lead us and not showing any interest at all," said a senior technical staffer at the governor's office. During Pangandaman's stint from 1993 to 1996, the rank and file of various devolved agencies and support offices in the region actively participated in nightly Qur'an readings and group prayers inside the ARMM compound.
"We broke our day-long fast in the ARMM compound and then held meetings and prayed together," said Sultan Metalicop Unda, former ARMM natural resources secretary. Pangandaman settled a total of 78 bloody clan wars involving powerful Muslim families during the Ramadan in his three- year tenure.
Dexter Gubar, a former key staffer of the ARMM's health department, said Ramadan festivities then were aimed at uniting political and traditional leaders in the region by involving them in religious activities during the month of fasting. Sources from Misuari's office said their only consolation this Ramadan season is the reduction of their working hours to allow them to go home early and prepare for their buka, or first meal at sunset, and their nightly individual prayers.
Some casual employees in ARMM agencies, including Misuari's office, have yet to receive their salaries for two months, thus they can hardly prepare decent meals they are supposed to partake of at dusk and at dawn, the only times they can eat food. During the Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drink and sex during the day for one lunar cycle, or 30 days, as part of their five basic religious obligations, which also include belief in Allah, going at least once in a lifetime to Mecca for the Hajj, giving of zakat or alms to the poor, and praying five times a day facing the west.
"We are confused. We have doubts as to the inclinations of the administration of Gov. Misuari. Public governance and religion are supposed to be one in Islam and yet we don't see him combining religion and public service in performing his functions as governor of ARMM," a senior staffer at the governor's office said.
Worse, some sources in the ARMM said many of the region's nearly 20,000 employees are unaware of Misuari's whereabouts at present, except having heard that he left for the Middle East two months ago to attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference. For months now, telephone lines in Misuari's liaison office in Manila have all been disconnected for failure to pay huge bills. "The liaison office is virtually out of touch with the outside world now," said a source from the ARMM's local government department.
December 18, 2000, The Philippine Star, Rebs step up taxation for CPP anniversary, by Charlie Lagasca,
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — New People's Army (NPA) rebels have intensified their collection of "revolutionary taxes" in the Nueva Vizcaya-Nueva Ecija-Quirino tri-boundary in time for the Communist Party of the Philippines' 32nd founding anniversary on Dec. 26.
Army Col. Inocencio Mayangao, commanding officer of the 54th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in the province, disclosed that more and more businessmen, mostly rice and vegetable traders, are complaining about the huge amount of "revolutionary taxes" the rebels are demanding from them.
This has prompted local businessmen, he said, to be up in arms over what they described as "unjust, arbitrary and excessive revolutionary taxes" being imposed upon them by the traditionally Maoist NPA guerrillas. Mayangao said these businessmen have received letters purportedly from the NPA's Arcadio Peralta Command, demanding that they shell out as much as P100,000 in time for the CPP's founding anniversary.
Last Dec. 14, four heavily armed men, who claimed to be members of the Arcadio Peralta Command, stopped a Manila-bound cargo truck along the national highway in Minuli, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, and handed the driver, Romeo Gutierrez, a letter with the CPP logo demanding P100,000. The rebels then seized the vehicle and all pertinent documents and cargo, including the driver's license and vehicle registration, and fled toward the south.
The rebels are raising money for a big celebration of the CPP's founding anniversary, Mayangao said. Intelligence reports disclosed that the celebration will be marked by a meeting of top Northern Luzon party leaders somewhere in the Sierra Madre mountains.
The meeting, according to the reports, will possibly tackle the fine-tuning and operation of a plan to destabilize key urban centers in the North, taking advantage of the current political and economic crisis triggered by the impeachment proceedings against President Estrada. Earlier, the 54th IB of the Army's 5th Infantry Division had taken over security functions in the northern part of Nueva Ecija, including the Dalton Pass and Casecnan boundary, to neutralize the rebels' reported strength in the area. Some 50 fully armed NPA rebels, according to reports, are operating in the area. Two weeks ago, about 50 NPA rebels in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija set three passenger buses on fire after their owners reportedly failed to pay "revolutionary taxes" on time.
December 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, ‘No more hostage talks with Sayyaf’ : Palace says former German captive has ’selective amnesia’, by Paolo Romero and Marichu Villanueva,
There will be no more negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf for the release of American Jeffrey Craig Schilling and Filipino Roland Ullah, and military operations will continue until the extremist group is wiped out, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado reiterated yesterday.
"The only negotiation that is not being prejudiced is a negotiation for their surrender," Mercado said.
"Even then, surrender will only be a mitigating circumstance. Abu Sayyaf members who survive the military operations, either through surrender or capture, will be charged in court with murder and kidnapping, among other crimes," he said.
At Malacañang, meanwhile, Press Undersecretary Mike Toledo accused German teacher Werner Wallert of having "selective amnesia" for criticizing the Estrada government in a book (Horror in Tropical Paradise) about his experience in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
"He (Wallert) has forgotten that the men and women of the Armed Forces risked their lives to secure their early and safe release," Toledo said.
The Abu Sayyaf snatched Wallert and 20 other mostly foreign vacationers from the Malaysian beach resort of Sipadan last April 23. Except for Ullah, all hostages were freed reportedly in exchange for huge ransoms.
Toledo said President Estrada is still undecided on whether to sue for libel the German magazine Der Spiegel which, in an earlier article, accused Mr. Estrada and Presidential Flagship Projects Secretary Robert Aventajado of pocketing part of the ransoms paid for the release of the Sipadan hostages.
Aventajado, for his part, has formally transmitted his letter of complaint dated Dec. 15 to Der Spiegel publisher Rudolf Augstein.
Mercado reiterated the no-negotiation stance against the Abu Sayyaf following reports that the group’s overall chief, Khadafy Janjalani, is asking the government to rescue Schilling or negotiate his release.
He said the bandits’ group is apparently "desperate for public attention" and is apprehensive over reports the government no longer considers Schilling and Ullah as persons being held against their will.
Although the two are still considered hostages, Mercado said there are persistent reports that the two may be in conspiracy with the Abu Sayyaf.
Ullah, an employee at the Sipadan resort, reportedly acted as the Abu Sayyaf’s contact, reports said.
"(Schilling) allegedly offered to buy firearms for them. He sought out and deliberately went to the group. The government will continue to determine the circumstances behind Schilling’s entry into the Abu Sayyaf’s custody," Mercado said.
December 19, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada critics in military, police receive threats, by Paolo Romero,
Military and police officials believed to be anti-administration are reportedly being "threatened and intimidated" by their superiors.
Sources told The STAR yesterday the administration is closely monitoring the activities of Marine Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa, the commandant of the Joint Command and Staff College in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Sources said Espinosa, former chief of the Armed Forces Southern Command, has been perceived as a "possible" administration critic after he was relieved of his command in Mindanao last year.
"We got information that he (Espinosa) is being monitored for reasons unclear to us except that he is perceived as an administration critic," the sources said.
Military officials at Camp Aguinaldo told The STAR yesterday Espinosa had asked to be relieved as Southcom chief because of personal reasons.
However, sources said the reason is that Espinosa had a "falling out" with Zamboanga businessman Lee Peng Wei, who is said to be close to President Estrada.
Espinosa was a classmate of retired Deputy Director General Roberto Lastimoso at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). Both belong to Class 1967.
Lastimoso, who was relieved last year as acting chief of the Philippine National Police, is now a prosecution witness against President Estrada in the impeachment trial.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force is also reportedly monitoring junior military officers belonging to PMA Class 1993 for unknown reasons.
"We don't know why they are being subjected to this monitoring if this indeed is true," the sources said.
Last week, Senior Superintendent Jaime Caringal was relieved as chief of the directorial staff of Police Regional Office 4 and reassigned to the Cordillera Autonomous Region as Ifugao police director.
Caringal, a member of PMA Class 1976, is a son-in-law of former Army chief retired Lt. Gen. Fortunato Abat.
Abat, chairman of the Federation of Retired commissioned Officers and Enlisted Soldiers (FORCES), has been leading other retired generals in calling for the resignation of President Estrada.
December 20, 2000, The Philippine Star, 7 Abu Sayyaf Men Killed in Clashes, by Roel Pareño,
Zamboanga City, (STAR) - Seven members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf holding an American and a Filipino hostage have been killed in clashes with Army Scout Rangers in Patikul, Sulu last Sunday, the military said.
A soldier was killed and four other government troops were wounded in the fighting, Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, said.
The encounters occurred a day before Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado declared that there will no longer be any negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf for the release of American Jeffrey Craig Schilling and Filipino dive instructor Roland Ullah.
The clashes erupted after members of the 12th Scout Ranger Company stormed an Abu Sayyaf hideout in the village of Pansol in Patikul town at about 2:25 p.m.
Atendido said the soldiers were met with strong resistance by some 140 fully armed Abu Sayyaf rebels, but later overran the camp.
The military, citing reports from the ground troops, said seven Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed.
There were no signs of either Schilling or Ullah, Atendido said.
He said the Scout Rangers seized three rounds of 57RR (recoilless rocket) ammunition, 10 M-16 magazines loaded with bullets, five pairs of combat boots and three combat packs containing personal belongings, during the clearing operation.
A soldier was killed and three others were wounded in the Pansol encounter.
About 15 minutes after the clash, the military said a fourth soldier was wounded when the rebels fired upon Scout Ranger reinforcements trying to evacuate their wounded colleagues.
Superintendent Casimiro Candido, Sulu police director, said police forces have set up blockades to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from bringing their wounded fighters to Jolo.
Last Monday, Mercado rejected appeals from Schilling to resume negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf for his freedom, saying the military was only prepared to discuss an Abu Sayyaf surrender.
Schilling was quoted in a local press report as saying he wanted the government to either rescue him or negotiate his freedom.
"We still believe that we will catch them in due time. We have not given ourselves any artificial deadline this time, but we will really do it," Mercado said.
Schilling and Ullah were the last of among dozens of Western and local hostages abducted by the Abu Sayyaf in a kidnapping spree earlier this year.
Last September, President Estrada ordered an assault to end the crisis, leading to the recovery of 19 captives, including two Frenchmen, three Malaysians and a group of Filipino Christian preachers.
Since then, the military said 205 Abu Sayyaf fighters have been killed, 174 have been captured and 261 have surrendered. The military, on the other hand, suffered 12 fatalities and 80 wounded.
Meanwhile, the military said two Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas were killed in a clash with elements of the 44th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Sipakit, Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte the other day. — With Paolo Romero and Edith Regalado
December 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, Reyes denies military intel agents monitoring Espinosa,
Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes denied yesterday that military intelligence agents have been tailing Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa on suspicion of being a critic of the Estrada administration.
"We don't do that to our generals so I'd like to disabuse the minds of the people. There is no truth to that. I will discuss that, of course, with Gen. Espinosa," Reyes told reporters in a chance interview at Camp Aguinaldo.
"Gen. Espinosa is a very capable, very respected officer in the Armed Forces so he knows exactly how to handle these things. He has been doing his role and there's no need for that (monitoring)," he said.
Earlier, military sources had said that Espinosa was among military officials being subjected to background checks due to perceptions that they were against Mr. Estrada, who is undergoing impeachment trial in the Senate.
Espinosa himself confirmed that agents of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) have been monitoring his movements.
Espinosa, former chief of the Southern Command (Southcom) and currently the commandant of the Joint Command and Staff College (JCSC), belongs to Philippine Military Academy's Class 1967.
Among his classmates was former Philippine National Police Deputy Director General Roberto Lastimoso, one of the witnesses against the President.
Last February, Espinosa was unceremoniously booted out as Southcom chief under mysterious circumstances. Defense sources, however, said "they have the goods" on Espinosa should he eventually come out in the open to criticize the administration.
But Reyes maintained that nobody in the military is being subjected to any surveillance.
Tension within the military ranks began when former Ambassador Fortunato Abat openly called upon those in the active service to withdraw support for President Estrada amid the current political turmoil.
Abat's Federation of Retired Commissioned Officers and Enlisted Soldiers (Forces) has been seeking Mr. Estrada's resignation.
December 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, No more libel suit vs Der Spiegel? by Marichu Villanueva,
President Estrada may follow the path of Flagship Projects Secretary Robert Aventajado and drop his original plan to sue a popular German magazine which accused the two of them of skimming off the ransoms paid to Abu Sayyaf kidnappers.
Press Undersecretary Mike Toledo yesterday told The STAR Aventajado may advise the President to drop his plan to sue Der Spiegel for libel.
Der Spiegel, in its Dec. 11 issue, came out with an article claiming that Mr. Estrada skimmed 40 percent while Aventajado cut some 10 percent from the $20 million ransom paid for unnamed hostages of the Abu Sayyaf.
The magazine claimed they learned of the scam through the German secret police who were monitoring the satellite phone conversations between Aventajado and Abu Sayyaf chieftain Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot.
Upon the advice of his lawyers, Aventajado said he will simply write a letter of complaint to Der Spiegel publisher Rudolf Augstein and demand an apology.
Toledo said Aventajado may also advise the President to take the same path because of the difficulty of pursuing a libel complaint in Germany.
Aventajado, the government's chief negotiator during the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping crisis, formally transmitted to Der Spiegel his complaint in a letter dated Dec. 15.
"I admit that I was shocked at the insinuation that President Joseph Estrada and myself received a share in the ransom money paid to the Abu Sayyaf," Aventajado stated in his letter, even as he asked that the letter be published in Der Spiegel.
"I am left with no remedy against the damaging report in your news magazine. I can therefore only appeal to your sense of justice and fair play. If there is indeed a tape of the conversation I had with the Abu Sayyaf showing that I had asked or even discussed a share in the ransom money, please produce this tape as well as the transcript of any such conversations," he urged the magazine.
Enraged by the article, the President and Aventajado initially considered filing a libel complaint against Der Spiegel.
"Upon my lawyers' advice, it is hard for such a case to prosper. So I decided to write the magazine instead," Aventajado said, adding that as a government official he can no longer be "onion-skinned."
"I think it is part of the job. But if the truth is on our side, we must fight back," Aventajado said. "As government officials, we cannot avoid getting mud hurled against us. What's important is to make sure that the mud doesn't stick."
December 26, 2000, The Philippine Star, Captive cop, soldier joining communist rebs in attacks?
Army Maj. Noel Buan and police Chief Inspector Abelardo Martin may have joined their communist captors in staging attacks against military and police detachments and other government installations, a military official said yesterday.
"We have been receiving reports that the two (Buan and Martin) have actually been leading ambuscades and attacks on detachments and convoys," the source, who requested anonymity, said, noting the stepped-up attacks of the New People's Army (NPA) in Quezon and Laguna in the past several weeks.
Buan, former deputy chief for intelligence of the Armed Forces' Southern Luzon Command, was abducted by NPA rebels while reportedly leading an intelligence operation in Quezon in July 1999. Martin, police chief of Dolores, Quezon, was abducted three months later during a raid on his detachment.
Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado, however, said he has received reports to the contrary, adding that the NPA may release the two hostages.
"I've heard of that report (of Buan and Martin joining the rebels), but it was not confirmed. What I received was that they might be actually released," Mercado said in a telephone interview.
The government declared a suspension of military operations (SOMO) against the NPA in Laguna and Quezon thrice this year, each lasting for two weeks, to pave the way for the release of Martin and Buan, but the rebels did not free them.
The government said it will no longer declare any SOMO against the NPA which, it said, has proved to be insincere and has taken advantage of the ceasefire to consolidate its forces, get back at rebel returnees and intensify extortion activities.
In another development, a policeman and an NPA guerrilla were killed in a firefight that ensued when the rebels attacked the lawman's house in Monreal, Masbate last Monday, the provincial police said.
Killed during the five-hour firefight were SPO4 Edwin Espiloy of the Monreal police, and NPA rebel Boni Almosara, according to Masbate police director Julius Ovilla.
Ovilla said Espiloy's wife, Eden, and SPO1 Efraim Espiloy, who also fought it out with the rebels, were wounded.
Last Dec. 17, lawmen repulsed an attack by NPA guerrillas on the police station of Casiguran, Sorsogon, resulting in the deaths of a policeman and a rebel.
The NPA also attacked the town hall of Caramoan, Camarines Sur last Nov. 18, killing a policeman and wounding two other lawmen and a civilian. The rebels also carted away several firearms. -- With Celso Amo
December 28, 2000, The Philippine Star, Another NPA-RHB clash leaves 5 dead, by Ding Cervantes,
CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga -- The Bataan police reported another clash between rival communist groups -- the New People's Army (NPA) and the breakaway Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan (RHB) -- this time over the collection of "revolutionary taxes."
This developed as at least three NPA guerrillas and a policeman were killed in a gunbattle in Masbate last Dec. 25.
Some 25 NPA fighters opened fire on the house of the policeman, Edwin Epiloy, who, together with a policeman-relative, traded shots with the rebels, three of whom were killed. Epiloy died from multiple bullet wounds, and his wife was wounded.
Meanwhile, NPA guerrillas, according to reports reaching Camp Crame, swooped down on a police outpost manned by a lone policeman in Barangay Sabang, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. They fled with the lawman's M-16 rifle.
The attack was the first ever staged by the NPA since it set up a unit of the Lucio de Guzman Command in the island-province last year.
Senior Superintendent Perfecto Palad, Bataan police director, said four NPA rebels and one RHB guerrilla were killed in the recent gunfight in Barangay Bakong, Hermosa town.
The rival groups encountered each other while collecting "taxes" from residents in the community.
Palad, quoting villagers, said the NPA rebels, belonging to the Lino Blas Command, carried the bodies of their slain comrades. The slain RHB member was buried in a cemetery in Samal town.
The rivalry between the NPA and the RHB in Central Luzon has mounted in recent weeks, especially after the Dec. 2 killing of Bartolome Quizon, alias Ka JoeBay, in his home in Mexico, Pampanga.