A Philippine Senate tribunal hearing graft charges against President Joseph Estrada may hand down its verdict by February 12 to allow legislators to concentrate on congressional elections, officials said Monday.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who presides over the trial, asked members of the prosecution and defense panels Monday to speed up the hearing, which Estrada's spokesman claimed was moving at an "excruciatingly slow" pace.
Concerns that the landmark trial could be a long-drawn process have also hit the economy, already reeling from nearly daily street protests calling for Estrada's ouster.
Senate president Aquilino Pimentel said on government television both parties had agreed to end "presentation of evidence" by end January.
"The trial proper ends by January, so that before February 12 there would already be a decision," Pimentel said.
Chief prosecutor Feliciano Belmonte said his panel agreed to finish presenting its case by January 19, while defense lawyer Raul Daza said his camp "would only need 10 days" to wrap up their position by January 30.
The Philippines will hold elections for both houses of the congress in May. The deadline for candidates to file their papers is February 12.
Several senators sitting as judges and members of the House of Representatives acting as prosecutors in the trial are expected to seek re-election.
Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives in November on charges of corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution.
If found guilty on any of the charges by the Senate tribunal, he will be removed from office.
The trial entered its 17th day on Monday, with a prosecution witness testifying that three people identified with an Estrada friend opened accounts at her bank in August 1998 through which prosecutors said alleged tobacco excise kickbacks for the president were coursed.
Witness Caridad Rodenas, an employee of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines, also told the court she received calls from a sister of the presidential friend asking her to later expunge bank records pertaining to the accounts.
The court was later thrown into commotion when defence lawyers asked Rodenas to identify from the spectators' gallery one of three people she said had opened the accounts.
Opposition senators accused the defense of playing a "dirty trick" on the court after Rodenas failed to identify the person, who turned out to be different from the one she said she saw.
But defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun said the exercise was to show that the people who had opened the accounts had used fake identification cards and were different from those named by the prosecution.
Apart from allegations that he skimmed off 130 million pesos from government tobacco excise taxes, Estrada is also accused of accepting millions in bribes from illegal gambling operators.
Prosecutors earlier Monday said they would also ask the court to allow as evidence two checks deposited in the bank account of First Lady Luisa Ejercito issued by Estrada's chief accuser provincial governor Luis Singson.
Singson had earlier told the Senate trial he had personally delivered to the president millions of dollars in proceeds from a protection racket for operators of the illegal lottery called jueteng that Estrada allegedly set up in 1998.
The checks were crucial to prove Estrada received money from Singson, a former drinking buddy until he blew the whistle on the president's alleged illegal activities in October, prosecutors said.
Singson also confessed in the trial that he helped the president skim off the 130 million pesos in tobacco excise taxes -- MANILA (AFP)
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