Joseph Estrada�s family and cronies continue to move around with impunity
More than a month has passed since EDSA 2 ousted Joseph Estrada but up to now, neither he nor his biggest cronies has been brought to trial. In fact, they continue to go scot free due to the impotence of the Macapagal-Arroyo regime to decisively prosecute the cases filed against them. Worse, the current regime is forging deals with Estrada and his minions in exchange for badly needed legal and financial support, especially for the coming elections.
Even before Joseph Estrada was ousted on January 20, his cronies were already feverishly bargaining with the Macapagal-Arroyo camp. After living off the fat of the land, they saved themselves and their properties by "withdrawing" support from Estrada. Proof of the decadence of reactionary politics, they are now being tolerated or even coddled by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime.
Most brazen was the turncoatism displayed by Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco and Lucio Tan, two of those who benefited most from the Estrada regime, and their unabashed acceptance by Macapagal-Arroyo. After Danding�s Nationalist People�s Coalition party bolted the Estrada alliance and his declaration of support for Macapagal-Arroyo amid threats of destabilization, the new regime withdrew its plans of replacing Danding as chair of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC). It will be recalled that Estrada gave the SMC chairmanship to Danding in 1998 using government-sequestered shares.
In addition, Macapagal-Arroyo also offered to Danding and other landlords in the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation or Cocofed the government-sequestered shares (amounting to more than 95%) in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) through a Sandiganbayan decision declaring the shares as privately owned. For the past 15 years, these shares had been considered public funds and thus were held by the Philippine Commission on Good Government. The Sandiganbayan decision forebodes the likely fate of the 27% sequestered shares in SMC. Danding claims 37.6% of the overall sequestered shares in UCPB and all of the 27% shares in SMC.
Likewise, after Lucio Tan emerged as a "friend" of the Macapagal-Arroyo camp, the new regime declared its readiness to settle his case involving the non-payment of P25.27 billion in taxes. Through the Bangko Sentral, it also rescheduled Tan�s payment of a P25-billion loan borrowed from Philippine National Bank (PNB) in October 2000. The BSP also allowed Tan to pay P15 billion of this loan through means other than cash. The Tan-owned PNB suffered heavy withdrawals after expos�s of Estrada�s criminal activities last year. Most of all, the Macapagal-Arroyo government guaranteed the continued existence and expansion of Tan and his minions� empire under her regime.
Other cronies who surfaced and offered their "cooperation" with the new regime were immediately accommodated by Macapagal-Arroyo. This, despite declarations by lawyers who have prosecuted Estrada that the government had more than enough evidence in its possession to convict and send Estrada to jail over more than seven cases of plunder.
Mark Jimenez: Once dubbed as a "financial genius" by Estrada, Jimenez is involved in deals that made use of public funds from the SSS and GSIS for private transactions to favored corporations. Among the deals he brokered were the merger of the Philippine Commercial and Industrial Bank (PCIB) and Equitable Bank and of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and First Pacific where both he and Estrada earned millions in bribes and commissions. He was also among those who manipulated shares in Best World Resources, which is owned by another crony, Dante Tan. Apart from his involvement in cases here in the Philippines, Jimenez also faces cases of giving illegal contributions to the Democratic Party, tax evasion and mail fraud in the US.
Jaime Dichaves: Dichaves� name surfaced during Estrada�s trial when he claimed ownership of the P3.2-billion Jose Velarde (one of Estrada�s aliases) account in PCI-Equitable Bank. Dichaves is one of the directors of Belle Corporation involved in jai alai and the squandering of SSS and GSIS funds in its various transactions. He is a partner of Estrada�s favorite mistress Laarni Enriquez in her various businesses, and was also in charge of collecting "tong" in Estrada�s behalf from the National Telecommunications Commission. Malaca�ang itself has tagged him as the second biggest smuggler at the Subic Bay Freeport.
Justice Secretary Hernani Perez has asked Dichaves to be a state witness in exchange for dropping him from a plunder case against Estrada. All Perez asked for were the locations of Estrada�s other bank accounts and the "Boracay" mansion. Dichaves is currently in hiding in the US with his family.
Charlie "Atong" Ang: Ang, Estrada�s closest gambling partner, was in charge of Estrada�s criminal syndicates involved in illegal gambling. Estrada granted him a contract with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor). He was even appointed as Pagcor consultant for jai alai operations.
Like Jimenez, Ang has also offered to testify in exchange for his being dropped from plunder cases against Estrada. Although the new regime has not yet openly agreed to Ang�s conditions, his deposition has already been taken in Hongkong where he is currently based.
Apart from these three, Estrada lawyer Edward Serapio and Estrada mistress Rowena Lopez have also offered to testify. Serapio served as Estrada�s "go-between" in dealing with the criminal syndicates he coddled. Other cronies on the list include William Gatchalian, Jacinto Ng Sr., Lucio Lao Co, Jose Luis Yulo, Dante Tan and Luis "Baby" Asistio, who all conspired with Estrada in looting the nation�s coffers but are currently free to move around and live it up in the country.
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