Laarni evades subpoena;‘aide’ collared with P6 M

Presidential mistress Laarni Enriquez left for Hong Kong yesterday morning after evading officers of the Senate sergeant-at-arms who were trying to serve her a subpoena to appear in President Estrada’s impeachment trial.

In reaction to Enriquez’s flight, the Senate impeachment tribunal threatened to cancel her passport if she fails to return to the country by Wednesday. Enriquez was Passenger 188, listed as "L. Enriquez" on Philippine Airlines (PAL) Flight 302.

Meanwhile, an alleged aide of Enriquez was caught at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport yesterday morning while trying to sneak out of the country for Hong Kong with P6 million in his hand-carried luggage. He was to take the same flight the former movie starlet took.

Senate Secretary Lutgardo Barbo told The STAR yesterday the impeachment court will order the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel Enriquez’s passport if she does not testify in court.

The STAR learned yesterday that the officers tried to serve the subpoena on Enriquez at her residence on 71 Harvard st. in Wack Wack Subdivision, Mandaluyong City at 11 p.m. last Wednesday.

However, Presidential Security Group personnel detailed with Enriquez reportedly told the officers to return at 9 a.m. yesterday, when Enriquez was already on the Philippine Airlines jet bound for Hong Kong.

The subpoena was reportedly received by Ruth Villoso, a nanny of one of Enriquez’s children, who was the only person at the house when the Senate officers arrived.

It was not known if Enriquez was fleeing because of allegations that she kept ill-gotten money in a bank account.

Sen. Juan Flavier, one the jurors in the President’s impeachment trial, told The STAR yesterday that if the subpoena had been properly served on Enriquez, the impeachment court can compel her attendance in the Jan. 17 hearing.

But Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, one of the 11 prosecutors from the House of Representatives, refused to tell The STAR what information they would like to get from Enriquez.

"We will not telegraph our punches," he said.

Apostol, however, stressed that the testimony of Enriquez is vital for the prosecution and could help convict the President. He said Enriquez will testify om Article 2 (graft and corruption) and Article 3 (betrayal of public trust).

In a motion for the issuance of a hold-departure order for Enriquez, the prosecution said that the country could not afford any delay in the impeachment proceedings and that she is a material witness to the trial.
The prosecution earlier claimed that Enriquez owned the now famous "Boracay" mansion in New Manila, Quezon City which was purchased for P86 million alllegedly from the P142-million issued by "Jose Velarde" from the Binondo, Manila branch of Equitable-PCI Bank.

As Enriquez was about to fly to Hong Kong, one of her fellow passengers aboard PAL Flight 302 was stopped by Customs agents for trying to smuggle P6 million out of the country.

Agents of the Customs Aircraft Operations Division arrested Juancho Mendiola, 36, after his traveling bag yielded P6 million in cash, arranged in 18 bundles. The money weighed eight kilos in all.

A police officer allegedly loyal to First Lady Luisa Ejercito reportedly tipped off agents of the Customs bureau, through the Aviation Security Group, about Mendiola’s plan to smuggle the P6 million out of the country.

At Malacañang, Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara had no comment yesterday over allegations that the P6 million would be given to Enriquez in Hong Kong.

On the other hand, acting Press Secretary Mike Toledo told The STAR yesterday Malacañang should not comment on the incident because the Palace does not know the details, and that the matter does not involve the Office of the President nor any Cabinet secretary.

"If again, they are pointing their accusing finger at the Palace, it would not be surprising to us," he said. "But it’s totally ridiculous."

Customs Commissioner Renato Ampil told The STAR yesterday Enriquez was in no way connected with Mendiola’s smuggling attempt.

Ampil asked The STAR during a dry run of his taped interview over PTV-4 yesterday not to link Enriquez’s name to the case "because this a very sensitive issue."

Ampil said Mendiola is undergoing tactical investigation at the Customs police headquarters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), and that the P6 million has been turned over to the bureau’s in-bond division for safekeeping.

Mendiola told The STAR yesterday the bag of money was handed to him by an unidentified man at the new Centennial Terminal II’s departure area.

Investigations showed the bag containing the money did not pass through the X-ray machines at the main entrance at the pre-departure area and at the final boarding gate.

Mendiola said his instructions were to turn over the bag to a person who would be waiting for him at the arrival area of Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport.

Mendiola, who is a zoologist, said he was going to Hong Kong on vacation, and that he did not know that the bag given to him contained P6 million.

Mendiola’s passport showed that he often traveled to Hong Kong, sometimes departing for the Chinese territory and returning to Metro Manila on the same day.

When he was arrested, Mendiola’s old passport was attached to a new one, indicating that he had overused the passport’s pages through frequent travels abroad.

Flight 302 was delayed for one hour because of Mendiola, whom PAL ground attendants had been paging several times until he arrived shortly before the aircraft’s scheduled takeoff at 8:15 a.m.

Investigators said Mendiola was rushing to the boarding gate when Customs agents asked him to open his two traveling bags for examination.

At first, Mendiola reportedly resisted but relented when head agent Adormeo Baliwag explained to him that they were inspecting all pieces of luggage in search of a bomb.

Maj. Esmeralda Saplala, Customs police chief at NAIA, told The STAR yesterday Mendiola will be charged in court with technical smuggling and violation of a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas circular prohibiting the export of more than P10,000.

Meanwhile, a friend of Enriquez told radio station dzMM yesterday Enriquez was driven to tears by insinuations that she has a bank account containing alleged ill-gotten money.

Ofelia Que denied that Enriquez maintained a Citibank account, and that she does not own the luxury mansion which she had occupied with her children.

"She was crying," she said "It was just too much." – With reports from Liberty Dones, Jerry Botial, Marichu Villanueva