A witness in the impeachment trial of the Philippine President, Mr Joseph Estrada, said yesterday she once brought a bag filled with cash to the presidential palace and handed it to his secretary. Ms Emma Lim, testifying at a Senate trial which could bring down the Estrada presidency, also identified deposit slips from a Manila bank where she said she deposited huge sums allegedly from illegal gambling operations intended for the embattled leader.
Ms Lim is an employee of provincial governor, Mr Luis Singson, who accused Mr Estrada last October of receiving millions of pesos in bribes from gambling syndicates running underground lotteries called "jueteng". Mr Singson, the main witness against Mr Estrada, has yet to testify but the prosecutor, Mr Roan Libarios, said the governor would finally take the stand today.
Mr Estrada will be removed from office if convicted. He has denied the charges and said he is confident he would be cleared during the trial.
The presidential counsel, Mr Estelito Mendoza, one of the country's top lawyers, grilled Ms Lim for more than two hours, questioning her memory of certain dates, in an effort demolish her credibility.
But the meek-looking, 34year-old woman appeared unshaken in her basic testimony - that she herself delivered money to the palace. She did not specifically say, however, that the money came from gambling syndicates.
Ms Lim said that some time last year, Mr Singson instructed her to deliver a black bag containing five million pesos ($100,000) in bundles to a secretary of the President, whom she identified only as a woman named Malou.