January 12, 2001, Sun Star, Ang willing to testify v. Erap for P50M: Singson,

MANILA -- If Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson is to be believed, Charlie "Atong" Ang has told prosecution lawyers he is willing to testify against President Estrada.

Ang even approached him to convey his readiness to appear before the impeachment court, Singson said Tuesday.

And if Cebuano businessman Victor Jose "Jojo" Uy was the one who visited Senate President Aquilino Pimentel's office Monday morning, he appears dead earnest about denying he is Eleuterio Tan.

In a press release sent to Sun.Star, Pimentel said a man who introduced himself as Victor Tan Uy showed up at his office to deny he was one of three persons who withdrew P130 million in tobacco excise tax to give to President Estrada.

The man, he said, told him he was willing to testify before the impeachment court. "It is now up to the prosecution or the defense to decide what they want to do with him," the Senate president said.

Uy may not be the only presidential friend who is willing to testify at the impeachment trial.

According to Singson, Ang asked for P50 million in exchange for his testimony. The money, according to Ang, would be needed to fight Estrada, he added.

"Early part of December, nagpadala ng tao na gusto nyang tumestigo laban kay Pangulong Estrada, pero humingi ng pera, so hindi ko pinatulan," said Singson in an ABS-CBN interview. (He sent an emissary to say he would testify against the President. I didn't believe him because he asked for money.)

Singson, the whistleblower on Estrada's jueteng payola, said that Ang even talked to a congressman and asked for P20 million for his testifying against the President.

But Ang denied Singson's allegations and instead said he was only misconstrued for attending a birthday party of Sen. Robert Barbers' offspring.

He also denied that his sister, Yolanda Uy, had ordered Land Bank Manager Ma. Caridad Roderas to expunge bank records of Power Express. Ang said that his sister has not been in any way connected with the Power Management and Consultancy Inc.

It was not clear, however, if Power Express and Power Management are one and the same firms.

Neither is it clear if Eleuterio Tan and Victor Jose Tan Uy are one and the same person. Two identification cards, one issued by Solid Builders, and another a driver's license, were presented by Eleuterio Tan to Land Bank branch on Shaw boulevard in Mandaluyong city to open a savings account and to withdraw P40 million of the tobacco tax proceeds.

Pimentel, in his press release, said Uy Tan acknowledged that the photograph in the driver's license issued by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) "appears to be his."

Based on the documents, Pimentel said the address of Eleuterio Tan was the same as that of Tan Uy at 2041 M.J. Cuenco ave., Cebu city.

Jojo Uy has acknowledged it is his photo on the documents and admitted his closeness to President Estrada, but has denied he is the Eleuterio Tan involved in the controversy. He, along with Alma Alfaro and Delia Rajas, allegedly withdrew millions of pesos in tobacco tax proceeds from Land Bank on Aug. 28, 1998.

The Senate president said that Senate investigators are still trying to track down Alfaro. "We're still tracing her, but she couldn't be found up to this point," he said.

Meanwhile, Singson believes that Malacañang may just be using Ang as "bait" to reel him in. He said that after he rejected Ang's offer, the presidential friend approached the prosecution panel.

This time, Ang asked for only P50 million in exchange for his "bombshell" against the President. Singson believes Ang will not offer anything that will enable the prosecution to pin down the President on any of the articles of impeachment.

He said he would have been in trouble had he accepted Ang's offer as the latter could always claim he (Singson) bribed Ang to testify against the President.

He stressed that Ang would only testify to sow confusion at the impeachment trial. Rep. Edmund Reyes, spokesman for the 11-man House prosecution panel, refused to give any reactions to Singson's statement.

He said they needed to discuss the matter before coming out with any statement.

The defense panel, however, claimed that Singson is just hallucinating and creating stories to discredit the President.

During his testimony at the Senate Impeachment trial, Singson claimed that he delivered millions of jueteng money to President Estrada after the latter assumed office in 1998. (Sun.Star Cebu/Sun.Star Manila)