RP congressman to file impeachment against Estrada
RP congressman to file impeachment against Estrada
MANILA (Agencies): A provincial governor claimed on Monday he collected payoffs from illegal gambling operations for President Joseph Estrada and gave him 130 million pesos (US$2.8 million) from the province's tax proceeds.
The politically explosive charges are the most serious yet against Estrada, who assumed the presidency in 1998, and quickly triggered discussions of impeachment proceedings.
Opposition Congressman Heherson Alvarez said he believes there is sufficient evidence to impeach Estrada and would file proceedings to do so as early as Tuesday.
"From the evidence I saw, there is probable cause," he said. "After everything is revealed, we will file an impeachment case."
The main witness in a Philippine Senate probe into allegations Estrada received payoffs from gambling lords said on Monday he would turn documents over to congress proving his accusations.
Provincial governor Luis Singson alleged Estrada received more than 400 million pesos ($8.6 million) in payoffs over two years from gambling syndicates running an illegal numbers game called "jueteng".
Singson, at a news conference he called to back up charges he made public last week, failed to produce clear evidence to cement his allegations.
"I will turn them over to Congress," he said, when pressed by reporters if he had documents to support his claim.
Outside, his supporters mingled with leftist protesters in a rally to demand Estrada's resignation.
Presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno, reacting to Singson's accusations, said: "It was long on rhetoric but woefully short on evidence."
Estrada has denied the allegations and said they were a "smear campaign" waged by politicians lusting for power.
He also said the allegations stemmed from a quarrel between Singson and presidential friend and businessman Charlie Ang, who helped the administration run a legalized numbers game called "Bingo Two-Ball" aimed at stamping out the popular jueteng.
The latest scandal to hit Estrada's embattled administration helped unsettle the country's already reeling financial markets as shares sank to their lowest level in two years.
The Philippine peso fell to 46.550 to the dollar at the close on Monday from 46.395 on Friday.
"The head of state is being accused of corruption so it's affecting sentiment," said Astro del Castillo, research head at A&A Securities.
The Senate's investigating committee formally opened a hearing on Singson's allegations but quickly adjourned when Singson, Ang and another witness failed to show up.
Committee chairman Senator Aquilino Pimentel postponed the hearing for Wednesday, warning he would order the arrests of Singson and Ang if they did not show up again.
Manila's Roman Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Sin, urged Singson to pursue his campaign against corruption, saying God would protect him if he was telling the truth.
The top clergyman in the predominantly Roman Catholic country said Singson asked for "spiritual help" when they met on Sunday.
"I assured him of my prayers and support so that the truth may indeed come out," Sin said in a statement.
"I also encouraged him not to be afraid because if he is on the side of truth, God Himself will be his refuge...I state again my conviction that the rampant corruption evident in public office is one of the biggest obstacles to our national growth."
Singson, a former close political ally of Estrada, dropped a political bomb last week when he said he had regularly handed Estrada millions of pesos in payoffs from syndicates running jueteng.
Jueteng, a lottery-type game popular among poor Filipinos, involves picking a combination of two numbers from one to 37.
Bingo Two-Ball, a variant of jueteng and launched on a test run last month, was intended to put jueteng operators out of business and boost state coffers.