PROF.PASION (PHILIPPINES)
09-08-2007, 03:05 AM
Web Of Lies Unraveled
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
03/31/2006
To this day, knowing that they have the Arroyo-friendly and manipulated media on their side, special chief prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, along with Chavit Singson, continues to try the case against Erap and convict him via the media and make too many media statements that are not, however, backed up by court records.
Faced with copies of official documents presented by the accused Estrada that show the many cases of Chavit's diversion of the province's tobacco excise tax as early as 1997, when Estrada was not even president, Villa-Ignacio told reporters that Erap's testimony Wednesday was irrelevant to the case, while adding it was an "I don't know anything" testimony.
Anyone who checks on the trial's transcript can see for himself that Villa-Ignacio and his prosecution team failed to prove their charges against Estrada, and would as well see the many perjured testimonies of the prosecution's star witness and his manufactured witnesses.
Predictably, Chavit held a press conference to deny Erap's statements in open court, saying this was being done to destroy his credibility; that those 11 cases against him investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation and Commission on Audit (CoA) were ordered by Erap to pressure him into not testifying against the detained leader in 2000, among other denials, such as the claim that he never said he delivered P130 million to Estrada. It was only P70 million since he alleged that Loi got P20 million. This was said to debunk Erap's testimony that the P130 million, as shown through a reenactment at the central bank, could not have possibly fitted into the four boxes, whose measurements were given by Chavit himself.
In his affidavit, Chavit claimed that he and Charlie Atong Ang delivered the P130 million, giving Loi Estrada P15 million and son Jinggoy P5 million while handing Erap P70 million, who, he said even got mad and questioned why it was only P70 million.
Chavit's math is all shot, since P70 million and P20 million make P90 million, on the basis of P1,000 bills, which the central bank pointed out was already an impossibility, since at that specific time and year, no bank would have in its vault, all P1,000 bills. Still P90 million in P1,000 bills would not fit into these four boxes. It would have to have been a mix of P500 and P1,000 bills, which amount would definitely not fit into the four boxes. And witnesses to this at the central bank premises were the Sandiganbayan justices themselves.
Or is Chavit now saying he gave Erap P50 million and Loi P20 million, in which case, he is still caught lying as his own affidavit says otherwise.
But how does Chavit explain the fact that the CoA audits already showed Chavit's pattern of siphoning off the tobacco tax since 1997? How does his claim of "special ops" for Erap fit into the picture?
And there is too the fact that the CoA provincial auditor, Agustin Chan, whom Chavit asked Erap to be transferred elsewhere and who was then following up on the audit papers of the tobacco tax funds, was ambushed, with his and his driver's bodies riddled with bullets.
It is to be noted that when this murder occurred, Gloria Arroyo never denounced this and never even directed the police — to quote her oft-repeated refrain — to leave no stone unturned. To this day, the cops have yet to "solve" the cases.
Chan's widow, Evelyn, pointed to Chavit as the brains behind her husband's murder. But who is to ensure that Chavit gets jailed? Surely not Gloria and her goons as they must continue to protect Chavit as he may turn against her and spill the beans.
But there was Chavit, whom a US district judge called a "demonstrably corrupt provincial governor" claiming that the murder of Chan benefited Erap. Come again, Chavit? Chan was slated to be one of the major witnesses for the defense in the plunder trial. He was doing an audit on the tobacco excise tax funds as well as the many anomalies in the Ilocos Sur provincial government. Who else would benefit from Chan's death?
As things stand, at least eight cases of well-documented cases of plunder were filed against Chavit before the Ombudsman, then headed by Gloria's lawyer, Simeon Marcelo, who quickly dismissed them, claiming that Chavit has been granted immunity. Hello. Those plunder charges were different from the claimed P130-million tobacco tax Chavit said he delivered to Erap. These were raps culled from his 1997 to 2001 tax fund diversions, amounting to over P1.4 billion.
Is Chavit now immune from any and all charges — whether murder or plunder of public funds?
But there was Chavit and his sidekick Villa-Ignacio claiming before the media that these were all denials and that their case was solid against Erap, not to mention their claims that Chavit Singson's credibility cannot be impeached by the defense.
What credibility are they talking about? It is an oxymoron to equate credibility with a "emonstrably corrupt" official.
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
03/31/2006
To this day, knowing that they have the Arroyo-friendly and manipulated media on their side, special chief prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, along with Chavit Singson, continues to try the case against Erap and convict him via the media and make too many media statements that are not, however, backed up by court records.
Faced with copies of official documents presented by the accused Estrada that show the many cases of Chavit's diversion of the province's tobacco excise tax as early as 1997, when Estrada was not even president, Villa-Ignacio told reporters that Erap's testimony Wednesday was irrelevant to the case, while adding it was an "I don't know anything" testimony.
Anyone who checks on the trial's transcript can see for himself that Villa-Ignacio and his prosecution team failed to prove their charges against Estrada, and would as well see the many perjured testimonies of the prosecution's star witness and his manufactured witnesses.
Predictably, Chavit held a press conference to deny Erap's statements in open court, saying this was being done to destroy his credibility; that those 11 cases against him investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation and Commission on Audit (CoA) were ordered by Erap to pressure him into not testifying against the detained leader in 2000, among other denials, such as the claim that he never said he delivered P130 million to Estrada. It was only P70 million since he alleged that Loi got P20 million. This was said to debunk Erap's testimony that the P130 million, as shown through a reenactment at the central bank, could not have possibly fitted into the four boxes, whose measurements were given by Chavit himself.
In his affidavit, Chavit claimed that he and Charlie Atong Ang delivered the P130 million, giving Loi Estrada P15 million and son Jinggoy P5 million while handing Erap P70 million, who, he said even got mad and questioned why it was only P70 million.
Chavit's math is all shot, since P70 million and P20 million make P90 million, on the basis of P1,000 bills, which the central bank pointed out was already an impossibility, since at that specific time and year, no bank would have in its vault, all P1,000 bills. Still P90 million in P1,000 bills would not fit into these four boxes. It would have to have been a mix of P500 and P1,000 bills, which amount would definitely not fit into the four boxes. And witnesses to this at the central bank premises were the Sandiganbayan justices themselves.
Or is Chavit now saying he gave Erap P50 million and Loi P20 million, in which case, he is still caught lying as his own affidavit says otherwise.
But how does Chavit explain the fact that the CoA audits already showed Chavit's pattern of siphoning off the tobacco tax since 1997? How does his claim of "special ops" for Erap fit into the picture?
And there is too the fact that the CoA provincial auditor, Agustin Chan, whom Chavit asked Erap to be transferred elsewhere and who was then following up on the audit papers of the tobacco tax funds, was ambushed, with his and his driver's bodies riddled with bullets.
It is to be noted that when this murder occurred, Gloria Arroyo never denounced this and never even directed the police — to quote her oft-repeated refrain — to leave no stone unturned. To this day, the cops have yet to "solve" the cases.
Chan's widow, Evelyn, pointed to Chavit as the brains behind her husband's murder. But who is to ensure that Chavit gets jailed? Surely not Gloria and her goons as they must continue to protect Chavit as he may turn against her and spill the beans.
But there was Chavit, whom a US district judge called a "demonstrably corrupt provincial governor" claiming that the murder of Chan benefited Erap. Come again, Chavit? Chan was slated to be one of the major witnesses for the defense in the plunder trial. He was doing an audit on the tobacco excise tax funds as well as the many anomalies in the Ilocos Sur provincial government. Who else would benefit from Chan's death?
As things stand, at least eight cases of well-documented cases of plunder were filed against Chavit before the Ombudsman, then headed by Gloria's lawyer, Simeon Marcelo, who quickly dismissed them, claiming that Chavit has been granted immunity. Hello. Those plunder charges were different from the claimed P130-million tobacco tax Chavit said he delivered to Erap. These were raps culled from his 1997 to 2001 tax fund diversions, amounting to over P1.4 billion.
Is Chavit now immune from any and all charges — whether murder or plunder of public funds?
But there was Chavit and his sidekick Villa-Ignacio claiming before the media that these were all denials and that their case was solid against Erap, not to mention their claims that Chavit Singson's credibility cannot be impeached by the defense.
What credibility are they talking about? It is an oxymoron to equate credibility with a "emonstrably corrupt" official.