1.   Estrada denied the payoff allegations earlier today and said he would not step down.

2.   Estrada denied the payoff allegations earlier Thursday and said he would not step down.

3.   Lang and Kirk, who now works at Sheffield High in Memphis, were suspended from their jobs after the payoff allegations became public this week.

4.   The payoff allegations plunged the Philippines into its worst political crisis in years.

5.   The nine accused executives include incumbent president Tatsuro Tanaka and former president Hiroshi Hidaka, who resigned in June after the payoff allegations.