Here's how I think the IMPSA-MJ deal went down

At the height of Edsa Dos, Mark Jimenez knew he was in trouble, and he needed to ingratiate himself with the new powers para hindi siya ma extradite sa US for fraud, tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions.

So he immediately swung the $14 Million IMPSA bribe to Arroyo's way with Nani getting $2 Million, "the boys" getting $1 Million, the "Malacanang residents" getting $4 Mil, para hindi siya maparusahan katulad ni Erap at ng mga ibang cronies nito.

The plan na napagkasunduan nila after edsa dos is for Mark jimenez to gain "immunity" status by winning a seat in the House of Representatives in the may 2001 elections para hindi siya ma-extradite sa US. An additional side deal was to sell the Manila Times to Arroyo Crony Dante Ang for a bargain.

That's why MJ refused to pay the salaries of manila Times staffers after edsa dos (even when he's spending money left and right for his House seat campaign) and the quality and viability of the newspaper suffered even more, because this would be used as a pretext by Dante Ang to buy the Manila Times.

Here's a comment from Manila Times columnist Inday Espina Varona who worked for Mark Jimenez in the past.

I do have a wish where the Manila wannabe mayors are concerned. I wish Mark Jimenez gets enough spiritual renewal to publicly apologize for his efforts to bilk his old Manila Times staff of their salaries while he was spending millions left and right to get elected to Congress.

But that's MJs plan. Make it look like the newspaper's losing money, so that Arroyo's crony can buy the newspaper cheaply.

So Mark Jimenez won his seat in congress easily. And thought that would be the end of his troubles. he thinks he now has parliamentary immunity from any US extradition.

What he didn't know is that the US is really serious about having his head on a platter, and began asking the aRroyo admin for custody of Jimenez.

Now here's where I believe Nani Perez comes in again. He tells Jimenez that if he want's to stay "immune" from US prosecution, he'll have to cough up more of that MJ money. This infuriated Mark because Nani already got $2 Mil. and the rest of the higher ups got their share of the IMPSA loot.

Mark Jimenez thought na ginagago lang siya ni Nani Perez, that in the end, even if he added to the already $2 Million dollar he gave, the admin will still sell him out. So he accused nani of extortion. kinda weird though na he didn't complain when the first so-called "extortion" happened immediately after edsa dos. In fact, he gladly paid the $2 Million. But it was only a year later that he cried extortion after already paying nani the bribe money, right around the time the US was asking for his custody.

So here's my conclusion: I believe there is an $14 MIL IMPSA bribery payoff that Nani, the "Malacanang residents", MJ, and the "boys" got, and a separate Nani attempt at extortion against MJ when the RP gov was informed that the US is really serious about Mario Crespo.

And this Nani extortion attempt had nothing to do with Arroyo, and nothing to do with IMPSA, kaya hindi dinamay ni Mark si GMA dito.

UDPATE: Mark Jimenez is now saying that rather pay the $2 Million bribe money than implicate Erap's cronies:

In a privilege speech in 2002, Jimenez, then a congressman of Manila, said that Perez had demanded that he execute an affidavit against cronies of former President Joseph Estrada, which would be used against them if they would not support Ms Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election.

Jimenez said that when he refused, Perez cursed and threatened him in front of his wife at their home in Forbes Park in Makati City in the third week of January of 2001, or shortly after Estrada was ousted.

It was Escaler who came up with the proposition that he just cough up $2 million, to which Perez agreed, according to Jimenez.

Riggghhhttt!!!! I find that hard to believe, considering that Jimenez will say and do anything. He accused Estrada of taking the IMPSA bribe money while clearing Arroyo, which doesn't make sense to me, because the IMPSA agreement was sealed and dealed four days after Edsa Dos.

As for the $2 Million (P100 Million pesos) bribe money, that's a mindboggling amount to be paying Nani perez out of your own pockets (as MJ claims) just to "protect erap's cronies", especially with a fraudster like Mario Crespo. Unless of course, it wasn't his own money to begin with but IMPSA's.

So anyway, what do you think guys. Did i nail this sucker right?

Here another viewpoint from the Tribune editorial:

And so, what he was telling his friends then — on the Jose Pidal bank accounts, the many money laundering fronts which were the foundations of Gloria, and the Impsa payoff made to “the couple,” Nani and “for the boys,” with the rest apparently having been pocketed — has undergone great changes. Those who repeat what he said in the past are now called the liars; those who rejected the payoff are now the bribe-takers. And there appears to be a complete amnesia on the part of Jimenez on the many checks to the tune of some P48 to P52 million, given to Gloria in stages, which would then constitute plunder, that found their way not to the Gloria foundations, but to the Jose Pidal accounts.

It was all these exposes that opened up the Jose Pidal accounts, the Impsa payoff and the shady foundations which held millions that scared Gloria Arroyo so, which was why there was that speedy move to have MJ thrown out of the country and the US government quickly obliged its girl.

Quite frankly, with Jimenez blaming all the graft and corruption, including murders, and even the Impsa payoff on Estrada and Lacson while absolving Gloria of any and all crimes against the Filipino people, he will have difficulty getting people to believe his turnaround tales. If truth be told, MJ turns off a lot of people when he starts to speak.