Chavit Singson caught lying again

From the Daily Tribune:

Chavit lies bared by CoA; prosecution liable for abuse

The lies spun for the last four years by Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson on the alleged plunder of public funds by detained President Joseph Estrada could no longer hold up after two witnesses for the defense, both Commission on Audit (CoA) officials, not only corroborated the statements of state provincial auditor Agaton Dacayanan on the still unliquidated funds in tens of millions and ghost purchasers, but also showed that Singson was lying throughout on the P170 million he had claimed to have diverted on orders of Estrada.

At the same time, Estrada's lawyers yesterday charged the prosecution panel for neglecting its duty when it continued to protect Singson and other officials of the Ilocos Sur provincial government involved in the alleged diversion of P170-million tobacco excise taxes even when it was clear they had plundered the funds.

Former senator and now lead counsel for Estrada, Rene Saguisag said the prosecution has shown grave misconduct and charged the panel with selective prosecution when it dropped the charges filed against Singson and some of his officials involved in the diversion of tobacco excise taxes of Ilocos Sur which occurred in 1998. The P170 million was part of the P200-million tobacco excise tax share of the province during the same year.

Saguisag was referring to the falsification charges filed against Singson, Ilocos Sur Vice Governor Deogracias Victor Savellano and nine others which the prosecution had promptly dropped. The case was eventually dismissed by the Sandiganbayan, which based the dismissal on the withdrawal of the cases by the prosecution early this year.

The defense also presented yesterday its third and fourth witnesses, retired state-auditor Bonifacio Ona, 69, and 44-year-old auditor Elvira Felix, respectively.

Their testimonies bolstered the previous testimony of Agaton Dacayanan, also an auditor for the Ilocos Sur province.

Based on the CoA report submitted by the witnesses before the Special Division, it was found that Singson's cash advances had reached P124 million which remained unliquidated to date.

The Ilocos Sur government, under Singson's watch, was also found to have made “ghost purchases” in the amount of P24 million based on the CoA Report of 2002.

Defense lawyer Raymund Fortun revealed that the last audit report done by CoA in 2002 showed that “not a single cent was settled” in cash advances by Singson, who was re-elected to office last May.

“These are unliquidated cash advances. And all of these are documented. The (CoA) documents do not lie,” Fortun said.

The testimonies of the two will continue when the hearing resumes on Wednesday.

The defense team expressed belief that with Dacayanan, Ona and Felix testimonies, they had inflicted a lot of damage on the prosecution's star witness.

Saguisag, for his part, pointed out that Savellano and the nine other officials of the Ilocos Sur provincial government were believed to be Singson's cohorts in diverting the P170 million excise taxes in 1998. They along with Siongson were charged for falsification of public documents when they allegedly doctored disbursement vouchers and receipts, making it appear that the flue curing barn and re-drying plants were purchased by the provincial government, when in fact, no purchases were made.

The prosecution, however, quickly defended its move in dropping the plunder cases against these officials saying its prosecutors knew what was best for them to guarantee the conviction of Estrada, who is charged with the capital offense of plunder.

Singson, the prosecution's star witness, accused the former president of diverting and pocketing P130 million in excise taxes.

Singson, in his testimony before the Sandiganbayan Special Division in 2002, admitted he and his officials falsified public documents but claimed this was done to cover-up the diversion of P130 million tobacco funds which he claimed went to the pocket of the former president.

In withdrawing the falsification charges, the Ombudsman and his prosecutors admitted that Singson could be the “most guilty,” but having been granted immunity from criminal liability in exchange for his testimony against the former president, there was no longer any point in pursuing the charges against his accomplices.

In an interview with the reporters after yesterday's hearing, the former senator said the prosecutors committed a mistake and failed to see the implication of pulling out the charges against Savellano and the other nine accomplices.

“At the very least, there was a dereliction of duty here on the part of the prosecutors. This is another case of prosecutorial misconduct. There should have been a plunder charge against Chavit and his men. That is selective prosecution,” Saguisag said.

He expressed belief that the prosecution withdrew the charges against Ilocos Sur officials, fearing this may weaken its case against Estrada.

“They knew very well it would raise doubt on the credibility of Singson as their main witness against President Estrada,” the counsel added.

Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, for his part, downplayed the accusations made by the defense even as he said what is being pushed by the defense would surely not work.

In a separate interview, Villa-Ignacio maintained that the filing of the plunder case against Estrada and making Singson their star witness is evidence of the prosecutors' doing their job well.

“If there's dereliction of duty on our part, we should have not filed a plunder case against the former president,” the chief special prosecutor said.

The prosecution, however, has failed to prove its case against Estrada.

If there is any justice in this world, dapat matagal nang nakakulong yang Chavit Singson na yan. At isama mo na rin ang utol niyang si Honeygirl for diverting PCSO funds to GMA's election and propaganda campaign.