ERAP TO SUE THE
U.N.
MANILA, JANUARY 31, 2008 (STAR)
By Jose Rodel Clapano - Pardoned former President Joseph Estrada vowed yesterday
to file charges before the International Court against the United Nations for
tagging him as one of the 10 most corrupt leaders in the world.
Estrada, who extended his stay in Hong Kong, told radio station dzBB that the statement of the UN’s anti-corruption conference tagging him as the 10th most corrupt leader in the world is baseless.
“We will file charges against the UN for that baseless statement. They should lay down their basis for tagging me as the 10th most corrupt leader,” Estrada said.
The UN anti-corruption conference, presently being held in Indonesia, had Estrada as No. 10 in a list of most corrupt world leaders for allegedly having raked in an estimated $78 million to $80 million during his presidency from 1998 until he was ousted on Jan. 20, 2001.
The UN’s list of the 10 most corrupt leaders was topped by recently deceased Suharto of Indonesia who amassed $15 billion to $35 billion, followed by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos with $5 billion to $10 billion.
Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire was third with $5 billion; Sani Abacha of Nigeria with $2 billion to $5 billion; Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia with $1 billion; Jean Claude Duvalier of Haiti with $300 million to $800 million; Alberto Fujimori of Peru with $600 million; Pavlo Lazarenko of Ukraine with $144 million to $200 million; Arnoldo Aleman of Nicaragua with $100 million, and Estrada.
Estrada blamed the media for demonizing him during his presidency and until he was charged and jailed for plunder charges.
The Sandiganbayan Special Division convicted Estrada on Sept. 12, 2007, sentencing him to 40 years in prison, but he was pardoned by President Arroyo on Oct. 25 and released from detention.
Estrada maintained that he did not steal a single centavo from the government.
He said he was found guilty of plunder based on allegations of former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson that he received jueteng money, which Estrada said was not government money.
“The tri-media fed disinformation against me to the public to pin me down. They demonized me during the time that I was forced to step down from Malacañang. They threw all the allegations against me, but they were not able to prove it even after six years and six months that I was jailed and during the trial of my case in the Sandiganbayan, which was designed to convict me,” Estrada said.
Estrada said if jueteng money is considered government funds, many would have been found guilty of the charges and jailed.
“The jueteng money amounting to P200 million was donated to the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation. I am not even a signatory to the checks for that and the one who benefited from that are our poor Muslim countrymen. The P189 million in Belle Corp. shares was the commission given to Jaime Dichaves. They thoroughly reviewed all contracts made under my administration but they have not proven anything and they have not proven that I have been involved in any anomalous transactions during my presidency, that is why it has no basis at all. The right basis is the Sandiganbayan decision which showed that I am not involved in any anomalies in government,” Estrada said.
He did not say the exact date he intends to return to the country from Hong Kong where he stood as wedding sponsor last weekend.