Impeached Philippine President Joseph Estrada said Saturday "somebody told me" about a five million peso (100,000-dollar) gift from a former friend who later accused the Philippine leader of taking bribes.
Estrada, in the midst of a corruption trial in the Sentae, told reporters during a flying visit to this western city that he had "heard" about the money given by Luis Singson to an unspecified party.
He said he did not witness the transaction himself, reiterating an earlier assertion that he did not take a single cent from operators of illegal gambling rackets.
Nor did he say when the handover took place or when he learned about it.
Prosecutors are attempting to link Estrada with pay-offs from operators of the illegal but hugely popular lotteries called "jueteng".
Provincial governor Singson, their star witness, testified on Wednesday that he gave Estrada a bearer's check for five million pesos in February 1999 as his fortnightly take from the nationwide racket.
Press reports said Saturday that an American consultant for Estrada deposited the money in a personal bank account and may have used it to finance opinion polls for the president.
"Somebody tipped me off. I am not admitting that I knew about it," Estrada said. "Somebody told me about this five million there. I had no way of knowing whether this was true or not."
Estrada will be thrown out of office if found guilty of bribery, corruption, betraying public trust or committing other violations of the constitution.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers insist that the "jueteng" money trail ended with Singson.
The trial began in the Senate on December 7 -- PUERTO PRINCESA (AFP)
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