Equitable outraged by tampering raps

The president of Equitable-PCIBank expressed outrage yesterday at accusations made by prosecutors in the impeachment trial of President Estrada that the documents it submitted to the court were tampered with.

In a statement sent to The STAR, Equitable-PCIBank president Wilfrido Vergara said he was outraged by the "unfair and malicious manner" with which prosecutors have interpreted his bank’s documents.

"I deplore the reckless readiness of some prosecution lawyers to assume without any basis that the documents may have been ‘doctored’ or tampered with," he said.

Vergara, a banker of 35 years, said he is ready to stake his personal reputation on the authenticity of the bank records of a certain "Jose Velarde" which prosecutors believe to be a false name used by the President.

The documents were opened in the Senate last Wednesday after several days of wrangling over their admissibility. They pertain to several bank accounts which prosecution lawyers said were used by the President to hide proceeds from the illegal numbers game jueteng.

The prosecutors charged that the documents may have been altered to hide links between the President and millions of pesos of graft money. They said the documents contain visibly altered or erased numbers and lack of basic data.

Vergara strongly dismissed their accusation.

"The documents we surrendered to the Senate are exactly and precisely as they were when they were executed by the depositor – no doctoring, no tampering, no erasures and no attempt to make them look any more regular than they were on the date they were accomplished," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, one of the prosecutors, charged that the bank accounts of Yolanda Ricaforte, the President’s personal auditor, were opened using laundered money.

Apostol made the observation after branch managers of Equitable-PCIBank testified separately that Ricaforte gave different lines of business when she opened accounts with them.

The manager of Equitable-PCIBank Scout Tobias branch in Quezon City said Ricaforte claimed she was into real estate and prawn farming. The manager of Matalino, Diliman branch, on the other hand, said Ricaforte told her she was into import and export business.

Meanwhile, the manager of Isadora Hills branch said Ricarforte claimed she was in the construction business.

Apostol noted that Ricaforte apparently could not possibly tell her real line of business in opening the bank accounts.

"She has to lie because she was using laundered money. If she tells the truth, the bank will reject her deposit," he said.

Ricaforte opened 31 accounts in six branches of Equitable-PCIBank and deposited a total of P212 million. She later withdrew P200 million in six cashier’s checks, all payable to cash.

The President’s lawyers, however, did not give much significance to the testimony of the bank managers as evidenced by their refusal to subject them to cross examination.

Lawyer Estelito Mendoza said the testimony of the managers involved only Ricaforte and had no link whatsoever to the President. "These are all meaningless to the accusation that the President is involved in jueteng," he said.

The defense lawyers elicited admission from one of the bank managers that Ricaforte did not make any regular withdrawal of P5 million every 15 days. They were obviously trying to refute the claim of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson that he delivered P5 million in jueteng money to the President every 15 days.

In other developments, the President said he will present himself in the impeachment trial if his lawyers advise him to do so.

He criticized certain people, particularly former President Corazon Aquino, for insisting that he attend the ongoing proceedings. "If she is my lawyer I might follow her," he said. "If my lawyers tell me to face the court, I will go. I am ready anytime."

Aquino challenged Mr. Estrada to face the impeachment tribunal if he has nothing to hide. She earlier urged the President to resign to save the country from economic ruin.

The President distributed Christmas gifts to poor residents of Tondo, Manila yesterday. In his speech, he appealed to opposition leaders to stop holding protest rallies that call for his resignation and instead allow the impeachment process to take its course.

"I appeal again to them to focus instead their attention to things that can solve the problems of our country. Their shoutings and speeches are not enough to get our people out of poverty," he said. – Efren Danao, Marichu Villanueva