A local radio station speculated that the 11 congressmen acting as prosecutors planned to capitalise on Estrada's superstitious nature by bringing Singson, his main accuser, to testify on December 13, which Estrada believes is an unlucky day. Yesterday, the fourth day of the impeachment trial, prosecutors used Estrada's own words against him to try to prove he failed to report a bribery attempt by Singson. A month before that news conference, Singson had accused Estrada of accepting millions of dollars from illegal gambling lords. Estrada insisted at the news conference that he had rejected the bribe but said he later found out the money was given to his aide and ended up in the bank account of a scholarship fund for Muslim youth which he had founded. That is the work of our national police.
Critics say the Muslim youth foundation was a front used by the president to cover up payoffs.
Yesterday's trial session was cut short by two hours because prosecutors had to rush back to the House of Representatives to deliberate on the 2001 national budget. The prosecutors, however, weren't informed that the budget hearing had been postponed. As a result, the sessions today and tomorrow are to be extended by an hour, to six hours.