Dy Snubs Senate

Dy to testify in impeach trial -- Escudero

Philip Tubeza
Inquirer News Service

FORMER Isabela Governor Faustino Dy Jr. will testify against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should an impeachment trial be held in the Senate, according to House Minority Leader Francis Escudero.

Escudero said Thursday that Dy assured him when he talked with the former governor in the United States that he was willing to testify in the impeachment court that election officials met at the President's house in La Vista subdivision in Quezon City.

"Based on his statement and our talks, he said that he would come back to the Philippines and testify if he is called by the impeachment court when the charges against the President are brought to the Senate for an impeachment trial," he said.

"In saying that he will testify only in the impeachment trial, it is clear that he will say something big about the charges against President Arroyo in the impeachment complaint," he added.

Escudero said that Dy decided to testify even after several "close friends" of the President discouraged him from doing so.

"While I was there, Governor Dy received many calls from allies and close friends of the President and... also from those who wanted him to testify immediately in the Senate or in the (House) justice committee hearings," he said.

"At this point, I will not yet mention who they are and what was the theme of their conversations although I personally witnessed and heard the calls," he added.

Escudero said that while the former governor was expected to testify against the President, Dy was not keen on testifying in the current Senate investigation on jueteng.

Escudero said he did not promise anything to Dy in exchange for his testimony.

"I am not in a position to promise anything. The man is getting old and he's thinking about his children's future," he said. "He was given a new perspective after the 2004 elections and, the way I see him, I don't think he's interested in politics anymore," he added.

Dy allegedly felt bad that he did not get enough support from the President during the race for governor of Isabela in the May 2004 elections, which he lost.