Following the incriminating privilege speech of Senator Ping Lacson, describing President Joseph Estrada’s corrupt practices while in office, Erap’s son, Senate President pro-tempore Jinggoy Estrada, denounced what he said was “a clear vilification drive against my father.” The economics graduate from the University of the Philippines (and yes, I am referring to Jinggoy Estrada, who holds an economics diploma from UP) decided not to interpellate Lacson.
The Senate President pro-tempore reasoned out: “I don’t wish to dignify his privilege speech through interpellation. A far as I am concerned, they are all lies. And I will deliver a privilege speech tomorrow.”
The senator further said, “And if this gentleman does not stop spreading lies about my father, I will tell that truth about the person of Senator Lacson.”
Lacson's Statement
“I was aghast at how the gentleman from San Juan, in his privilege speech in this same hall last week, accused this representation of being an administration ally, simply because I exposed the true character of his father, the former president,” Lacson said at the start of his speech.
In the first story, Lacson disclosed a phone conversation between Jinggoy and businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang in 2006.
At that time, Ang was about to be extradited to testify in former President Estrada’s plunder case then pending at the Sandiganbayan.
The original charge sheet for plunder had included “the father, the mother, and a son. Of course, we now know that the father was convicted, while the mother and son were acquitted,” Lacson added.“Pare, kung uuwi ka, kung ano man ang plano mo, huwag mo na kaming idamay ni Mommy. Si Daddy na lang, kaya niyang idepensa ang sarili. May ambisyon pa ako. Magpe-presidente pa ako at ako ng bahala sayo,” Lacson said of the phone conversation.
Lacson said Ang, who was in Las Vegas that time, could not believe what the man in Los Angeles told him.
“I myself could not believe the story were it not for the source of the conversation being ‘unimpeachable,’” he added.
A second story involved two “presidential brothers,” where the elder brother called the attention of a jueteng operator in Baguio City after learning that the younger brother was getting P1 million payoff a month.
“Yung P1 milyon na ibinibigay mo sa kapatid ko, hatiin mo na lang, sa akin mo na lang ibigay baka gamitin lang pambili ng droga yung pera,” he said of the brother telling the jueteng operator.
Aside from the additional P500,000 sequestered from the younger brother, the elder brother had a regular monthly payoff of P800,000 from another gambling operator from Bulacan, P1 million from former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, and unspecified amount from yet another gambling lord from Pampanga.
The third story, Lacson said, involves an incumbent Cabinet secretary and an elected senator who would ask the Cabinet official for a project when he loses P10 million.
“Mister President, distinguished colleagues, the three short stories that I shared with you only show the rotten moral values of that son, brother and public official,” he said.
Jinggoy denied Lacson’s allegations.
“There was no issue to that (he said, referring to the jueteng payoff). Nilabas na yan ni Singson noon pa at napawalang sala na ako (former Ilocos Sur governor Luis Singson already raised that before but I was cleared),” he said.
At the same time, he challenged Lacson to charge him in court or prove his accusations outside of the Senate if he really has the goods against him.
“Kung may ebidensya talaga sya, wag sya magsalita ng magsalita sa Senado,” he added.
Jinggoy said he would answer “point by point” Lacson’s accusations Wednesday.
“I promise you I will expose all of his (Lacson) illegal activities,” he said, adding that he will back up his allegations with documents though he declined to say where these came from.
Dacer-Corbito case
After lambasting the younger Estrada, Lacson then proceeded to his statement on the double-murder of publicist Salvador “Bobby” Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito.
He chided the former president for attributing to him the alleged plan to eliminate Dacer.
He said the effort to get Mancao to turn against him was led by Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief General Romeo Prestoza, offering the former and his family residence in Singapore and other support if he would only testify against his former boss at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.
Edgar Bentain
In another revelation, Lacson said Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) employee Edgar Bentain was killed somewhere in Laguna as told to him by a police officer.
He said the same police officer, whom he did not identify, reported to Polk Street in Greenhills, San Juan a day after Bentain’s disappearance of “mission accomplished.”
“I did not identify the criminal simply because I did not have any participation or direct personal knowledge of these criminal activities while they were taking place years ago,” Lacson said, adding that his investigation on the case is ongoing.
He said that he has gathered enough facts and data to provide the useful leads to unmask the mastermind’s true identity and his active participation, including other persons who were barely mentioned in the conduct of investigation.
Bentain, son of the former police chief of the University of the Philippines police force, was the video operator of Pagcor who came out with a footage of then candidate Vice President Estrada gambling in the casino with Ang.
The video was shown by former Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chairman Manoling Morato in the run-up to the 1998 election.
Enrile is on Side of Erap
Before Lacson could deliver his privilege speech Tuesday, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile defended his former boss, branding him as a "true and generous friend."
“Since Senator Lacson spoke about who he claims ‘the real Erap Estrada’ is, I hope he and my colleagues will not begrudge me for feeling compelled to speak about the side of President Erap I have personally witnessed in our long years of association and friendship,” Enrile said.
Enrile, a member of Erap's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), also described the former President as unpretentious and spontaneous in his actions.
Erap, according to Enrile, is a true nationalist when both of them, as senators, voted against the US bases treaty in 1991.
The two, along with 10 of their colleagues in the Upper Chamber, were dubbed as the “Magnificent Twelve” after voting for the abrogation of the US Bases Agreement, ending nearly a century of US military presence in the country despite the strong lobby for its extension.
Enrile further said he will not leave Erap's side despite the numerous accusations of coercions against him, including allegations of accepting bribe money from jueteng and smuggling activities.
