Prosecution's star witness confident of hurdling cross-examination

Provincial Governor Luis Singson, a former drinking and gambling buddy of Estrada, has accused the president of collecting more than 8 million dollars in illegal gambling payoffs and pocketing 2.6 million dollars in tobacco tax kickbacks. The expose in October 2000 formed a substantial basis for Estrada's impeachment by the House of Representatives for charges of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and violations of the constitution.

Singson was scheduled to be cross-examined by Estrada's lawyers on the 14th day of the trial later Wednesday. "I expect the defence to fabricate things to discredit me," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone interview from an undisclosed hideout. "But I am very confident that I will pass with flying colours." "I am telling the truth so I have nothing to fear," he added. Estrada, the first Asian leader to be impeached, would be removed from office before the end of his six-year term in 2004 if two-thirds of the 22-member Senate find him guilty in any of the four articles of impeachment.

The president's lawyers have expressed confidence that they would be able to destroy Singson's credibility during cross-examination, which would greatly weaken the case against Estrada. Attorney Raul Daza, one of the president's four defence lawyers, said the team has not decided on who would cross-examine Singson. "We are all eager and anxious to cross-examine Singson," he told a radio interview. On Tuesday, an official of the country's third largest bank told the impeachment court that there was an attempt to cover up a 10-million-dollar trust account owned by the chief executive under a fake name by transferring it to a close friend. Clarissa Ocampo, a senior vice president of Equitable PCI Bank, earlier testified that she was only a foot away from Estrada when the president signed documents pertaining to the 10-million-dollar trust account using the alias Jose Velarde on February 4, 2000.

Prosecutors have alleged that the Velarde account has been used by the president to hide ill-gotten wealth, including proceeds from a nationwide illegal gambling racket. Estrada's trial resumed on Tuesday after a holiday break amid high tension from a series of bombings that killed at least 17 people and injured more than 100 in the capital on December 30. Officials hope to complete the trial by the end of January, but prosecutors warned it could drag on until late February or early March. The president's camp has appealed to the Senate tribunal to speed up the trial.

(dpa)