November 23, 2000, The Philippine Star, Estrada to seek dismissal of impeachment case on technicalities, by Marichu Villanueva,

Sen. Franklin Drilon, in a statement, said the filing of a motion to dismiss is provided for in the rules they will be using. "Should the motion be granted, it will result in the abrupt end of the impeachment process," he said. However, Drilon said that the filing of a motion to dismiss and any ensuing debate over its legality may run contrary to the Senate's constitutional mandate to proceed with the trial upon receipt of the articles of impeachment. 

"The filing will invariably lead to a number of serious legal questions," the former Senate president said. "First the Senate would have to determine whether or not the filing of such motion would be in accordance with the  rules. Second, how many votes are needed for the motion to be considered proper? Would a mere majority of senators constituting a quorum be sufficient to grant the motion?" he asked. 

The Senate convened as an impeachment court on Monday and has ordered daily hearings until the 22 senators, sitting as jurors, reach a verdict. Drilon refused to give a time frame for the trial, saying it would create a "dangerous mindset" that could affect the integrity of the entire proceedings. 

He pointed out that setting a timetable for the trial would only give false hopes to the people. "No one, not even us senators, can and should set a time frame on when we could finish the trial because we do not know how this whole thing will turn out," he said. "I appeal to my colleagues and to our people against imposing a deadline on the trial. Let us allow the two sides to present their cases without any time constraints. Let us not create a mindset on when this historic task shall be finished," he added. 

Fearless forecast 

Meanwhile, Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo categorically predicted that the President will certainly be out of office very soon through "God's divine intervention." "There is nothing impossible with God," she told reporters yesterday. Arroyo also declared that the battle now is no longer between the President and the opposition but between Mr. Estrada and the people because of the crashing economy. And she said that it no longer matters whether the opposition is prepared to assume power or not. 

  
"It's the people who will react. It's the economy that will react," she said. And people are apparently already reacting. In the Ilocos region, there is now a perception that "justice may not be served" at the impeachment trial. Ilocos Norte Vice Gov. Mariano Nalupta Jr. said he has doubts on the capacity of a majority of the senators to assess the evidence in the trial. "Only few are lawyers among the senators," he said. In Singapore, the leader of the 2,000-strong Filipino community said they are supporting the impeachment trial and are hoping for a just resolution of the case. 

"Other countries are watching us Filipinos. We want the constitutional process to take its course because we have to show the world that we respect our Constitution," said Encarnacion Montales, leader of Filipino workers in the island state. 

Muslim scholars set for US, Australia 

To further prove his concern for Muslims, the President's Erap Muslim Youth Foundation, which was suspected to be receiving money from the illegal numbers game jueteng, is sending Muslim scholars to the US and Australia. The President himself told reporters yesterday that his foundation will be spending some P10 million to finance the post-graduate education of Muslim students in foreign universities. And he said the money the foundation will be using came from the Erap Golf Open, a tournament held recently. 

  
The President, however, could not yet say how many Muslim scholars his foundation will be sending abroad. "They (members of the foundation) have not given me their report. But this is an honest-to-goodness foundation. This is legal and really meant to help our Muslim youth to gain more knowledge," he said. 

A lawyer of the President has admitted receiving P200 million from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson for the Muslim Youth Foundation, but he denied any knowledge that the money came from jueteng. Singson earlier revealed that he gave the President the P200 million as part of jueteng earnings from his province. – With Efren Danao, Liberty Dones, Aurea Calica