MANILA Nov 10: Philippine President Joseph Estrada today faced new corruption allegations that he received 20 million dollar kickback from the sale of the country's largest telephone company and pocketed more than 16 million dollar from a controversial stock sale, reports AP.

The Bankers Association of the Philippines, meanwhile, joined more than a dozen other business groups in calling for a speedy resolution of a political crisis triggered by earlier allegations by a provincial governor that Estrada received more than dlrs 11 million from Illegal gambling payoffs and tobacco taxes.

Deogracias Vlstan, a former president of the bankers' group, said a prolonged crisis would further weaken confidence In the country’s already shaky econ-

The peso fell to record low of 51.95 pesos per dollar last week as confidence in Estrada s leadership deteriorated and calls for his reslgnaUon escalated. Stocks are trading near two-year lows.

In the new allegations against the president, the former head of the government's Securities and Exchange Commission accused Estrada of having received a 1 billion peso (20 million dollar) kickback from the sale of a con trolling stake in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. to Hong Kongs Metro Pacific Corp.

Former SEC Chairman Perfecto Yasay also said Estrada personally made more than 800 million pesos (16 million dollar) from the sale of shares in BW Resources, a gambling company al the centre of a stock manipulation scandal.

Estrada pressured Yasay to resign after he accused the presi-

dent of attempting to influence an SEC Investigation of a presidential friend at the center of the trading scandal, which rocked Manila's stock market.

There was no immediate comment from Estrada on Yasay's allegations.

Estrada responded to the earlier allegations for the first time Thursday, acknowledging that he had been offered 4 million dollar bribe by the provincial governor who has accused him of receiving the gambling payoffs and tobacco money. But Estrada insisted he had rejected the money.