One of the senators I like to watch is Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. Arrested and imprisoned for plunder for his involvement in jueteng (how fast people forget!), he was one of those who stood at the forefront in justifying the arrest and detention of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In fact, he was gloating. You would think that as the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona progressed, he would seek out the truth to allow the administration a better hand at trying Arroyo when Chief Justice Corona is finally convicted. After all, he is a senator-judge of a country that elected President Aquino on his promise to fight corruption.
But Estrada is proving to be wilier than we all thought. He voted to “respect” the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order on the Senate’s subpoena on Corona’s dollar accounts with the PSBank. He called Rep. Reynaldo Umali a liar in an ANC interview. He made the same accusation against Rep. Niel Tupas before the impeachment court (while asking Tupas to respect his opinion!). Contrary to Estrada’s words, I think we can all see how he will vote. And it won’t be to the liking of his father or President Aquino. The administration has lost an ally, and there’s a lucky little girl yet.
—JOSE J. COBARUBIAS, Cobarubias & Cobarubias Law Offices c/o cherylcobarubias@gmail.com