The
PCIJ’s award-winning investigation of the unexplained wealth
of President Estrada employed many of the techniques described in
this chapter. The findings of the investigation were published as
news reports in major newspapers and aired as 10- to 15-minute segments
on public-affairs programs in two major networks from July to December
2001. These reports also became the bases for the impeachment charges
filed against the President.
Estrada’s two-and-a-half-year presidency provides a classic
case study of political corruption in the Philippine context and
of the vast amounts that can be amassed by a president who misuses
the powers of his office. These included the powers to appoint over
3,500 officials, including the boards of government banks, corporations,
and pension funds. The President also has the power to approve contracts
above P50 million. He can veto laws, order the release of amounts
from the national budget, and exercise influence on nearly every
office in the bureaucracy.
By the time Estrada was ousted in January 2001, it had become apparent
that he combined the vintage methods of presidential plunder that
Marcos had perfected — behest loans, commissions from contracts,
and the ownership of companies through nominees — with newer
types of machinations such as stockmarket speculation and corporate
mergers and takeovers using state pension funds. The estimate is
that Estrada accumulated as much as P20 billion in cash and real
estate while in Malacañang.
When the PCIJ began its investigation in January 2000, there was
already coffee-shop talk about the deals made by the President and
the huge amounts of money that were changing hands. It was, however,
difficult to substantiate these rumors, especially when Estrada
was at the height of his popularity and had succeeded in muzzling
critical segments of the press. It was difficult at that point to
get firsthand sources to be interviewed on the subject or to find
documentation to support the allegations.
Such is often the case when one is investigating corrupt officials.
This does not mean that one should stop probing. It only means that
one should change the focus of the probe and the techniques used.
The PCIJ investigation of Estrada took nearly a year and was done
by a team of five journalists, several researchers, and interns.
The following is a simplified-step-by-step account of how the PCIJ
investigated a president:
