Former SEC chief apologizes to Estrada, admits civil society used him

Elite conspiracy in Erap ouster confirmed

Close to 10 years after the ouster of then sitting President Joseph Estrada through a coup d’etat, which was preceded by the collapse of the Senate impeachment trial deliberately done to trigger street protests, as the then political opposition and the elite civil society walked out of the Senate courtroom, former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman and Bangon Pilipinas vice presidential candidate Perfecto Yasay, the other day, admitted publicly in Davao City that the ouster of Estrada resulted from an elite conspiracy to topple the then sitting president.

Yasay was one of the candidates who showed up for the 25th anniversary of the Tabernacles of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Sunday, with a reported 30,000 in attendance, when he made the apology directed at Estrada.

Yasay surprised the crowd when he publicly apologized to the former president whom he said he had offended at the time he was head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I have offended this man and I ask for his forgiveness,” Yasay, referring to Estrada, admitted.

“Please accept my public apology for being so naive for allowing myself to be used by some to grab the presidency from you.

“I know that I have offended this man 10 years ago. I am asking for forgiveness at this time when love governs us all. My public apology to Erap for offending him when I was asked to do what I have to do to carry out my duties,” said Yasay in his speech, which event was carried by media.

Yasay was harking back to his testimony during the impeachment trial of Estrada where he claimed to having been bribed by Estrada — which Estrada vehemently denied even then.

It was also Yasay who claimed that Estrada received millions of pesos in kickbacks when he forced business tycoon Alfonso Yuchenco to sell his shares in the Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications Co. (PLDT) in 1998. And he admitted about being “naive” and that “I was being used so that they (the then political opposition and civil society and then Vice President Gloria Arroyo) can grab the presidency from you.”

It was later confirmed –and by President Arroyo herself, evidenced by a video that captured her speech before her then avid supporters, the Council for Philippine Affairs (Copa), a civil society group –that she and her group of military, religious, business, leftists and militants, calling themselves “civil society” plotted the ouster of Estrada a year before the coup d’etat, with the active participation of the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who had sworn Arroyo in as president even when there was no vacancy in the high post, was mounted.

When his turn to speak came, Estrada said he was surprised that Yasay was apologizing publicly over his participation to kick him out of Malacañang. He said Yasay’s public apology was reminiscent of former president Corazon Aquino’s public apology before she passed away.

“I am surprised by Yasay’s apology, but if God can forgive, who am I, a mortal, not to forgive?,” he said.

Yasay is the third Edsa ll coup participant who has publicly admitted his folly in helping to bring down the former president’s administration in 2001.

Yasay, who is the running mate of presidential bet Bro. Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord (JIL) Christian movement, was campaigning in Davao at the same time that Estrada, his running mate Makati mayor Jojo Binay and several of their senatorial bets were also in town to attend the first of the feasts of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ headed by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

Yasay joins a long list of people who have likewise extended their apologies to Estrada for their roles in the coup d’etat of 2001, which includes the late former president Cory Aquino.

In her brief remarks during the launching of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s biography The Global Filipino, a few days before Christmas 2008, Aquino publicly asked for Estrada’s forgiveness after admitting her role in Edsa ll.

“All of us commit mistakes. Please just forgive me,” Aquino then appealed to Estrada, who later said Cory Aquino’s apology was the best Christmas gift” he had received.

Before this Aquino apology, Bishop Antonio Tobias of the Diocese of Novaliches also asked Estrada to forgive the Catholic church for what it had done to him. Tobias’ appeal was made while he was delivering the homily during a mass at the St. Peter’s Church in Quezon City several years back, at which the former president was also present.

It was this elite conspiracy to oust Estrada that led to a highly politicized arrest and plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan.

Estrada, after his ouster, was twice offered by emissaries of Arroyo, in the person of then Arroyo Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, to go on exile to any country of his choice, on condition that he would write a letter of resignation, to “legitimize” the presidency of Arroyo anmd justify the power grab.

If he refused to do as asked, Perez said plunder charges would be leveled against Estrada, and vowed to have him jailed and convicted. Estrada rejected the Arroyo offer and was jailed and convicted of plunder, then later pardoned by Arroyo.

Estrada also said in Davao that he is hoping the big religious sect in Davao Kingdom of Jesus Christ headed by Pastor Quiboloy would support the candidacies of the PMP candidates.

Estrada and the PMP senatorial slate, who joined the 25th anniversary of the religious group in Davao City, however, said that he did not categorically ask for Quiboloy’s support.

“But it was good. We (three presidential candidates) were all given the opportunity to speak before the crowd. There was Gibo (Lakas-Kampi candidate Gilbert Teodoro and (Sen. Richard) Gordon,” Estrada said in an interview before hosting a surprise birthday party for Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile at the Davao Insular waterfront Hotel.

“Of course all of us hope to get his (Pastor Quiboly’s) endorsement, but I did not want to ask for his help directly. That (endorsement) is really up to him,” Estrada said.

He added that he is going to use the power of the prayer to solicit the support of the religious leader who has around six million followers.

Estrada recalled that when he ran in 1998 the religious group could have endorsed his candidacy because of the overwhelming votes he got from Davao.

“I suppose he helped me then. I won by a landslide in 1998 in Davao,” he stressed, adding that he has also returned the favor by pouring government resources to Davao and the rest of the Mindanao region when he was in Malacañang.

He also said that during his incumbency he had focused on the peace and order problem in Mindanao particularly in the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“Well, of course, that support from the Davao electorate was the result of prayers. Who knows, with prayers, we may get that support again,” he said lightly.

Boy Morales, PMP secretary general, in an interview during the small birthday party of Senator Enrile, said that the spontaneous support of the electorate for Estrada shows how popular the PMP standard-bearer is.

He said that since the start of the official campaign period, during the proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda, and the Pangasinan sorties last week, the response of the crowd was very encouraging.

He said that the sorties are one of the more effective ways of having Estrada meet the people and increase the support for the party.

The Davao proclamation rally had gathered over seven thousand supporters who braved the drizzle and waited until almost midnight for the former President to deliver his speech. –Gerry Baldo, Daily Tribune