Estrada denies admitting he owns Velarde account

Former President Joseph Estrada denied yesterday he had admitted owning the controversial Jose Velarde account in a recent interview, accusing TV network ABS-CBN of putting words into his mouth.

"Let me categorically say that I am not Jose Velarde and I do not own the controversial account," Estrada said following his hearing on contempt charges at the Sandiganbayan.

He said that in the interview aired by ABS-CBN last Monday, it was made to appear that he admitted being owner-guarantor of the secret account, which prosecutors in his plunder trial said once contained P3 billion.

In his conversation with ABS-CBN’s Pia Hontiveros regarding the bank account used in the signing of a trust agreement for the guarantee of a friend’s loan, Estrada said: "I am the owner. I am the guarantor."

However, the former leader said the final version of the interview was an attempt by the writers and editors of the Lopez-owned network to destroy his reputation.

"It is saddening what the network did with the interview. In my opinion this is irresponsible reporting at its worst from a once respected TV station," he said.

Hontiveros and ABS-CBN management said yesterday they were standing by their story.

Estrada stressed that he was simply the guarantor of a P500-million loan to friend William Gatchalian, and that another friend, Jaime Dichaves, is the real owner of the Velarde account.

He said that new evidence produced by his court-appointed lawyer clearly showed that Dichaves was the real Jose Velarde.

Last Monday, lawyer Manuel Pamaran produced a copy of a letter by Dichaves asking Equitable PCI Bank to allow him to open a combined savings account at its Binondo branch in the name of "Jose Velarde."

"The records of Equitable PCI clearly show that my friend Jaime Dichaves owns the account – he opened it, made transactions with it, and closed it," Estrada said.

Court defers contempt case

A special division of the Sandiganbayan postponed yesterday for more than a month a contempt case filed against Estrada for saying the anti-graft court was determined to convict him on plunder charges.

The Sandiganbayan, which was set to hear the contempt charge yesterday, rescheduled the hearing to June 19 after the former president argued the case was legally questionable as it was filed not by the court but by a civic group.

Estrada was livid after he was summoned for the hearing.

"By entertaining this frivolous complaint at the expense of more urgent issues, the Sandiganbayan is in effect tolerating the systematic persecution of my family and myself," he said in a statement read in the courtroom by one of his lawyers.

The anti-Estrada group PlunderWatch said Estrada maligned the Sandiganbayan when he fired his private lawyers last February and said the court was bent on convicting him.

The group also filed charges against Estrada’s wife, Sen. Luisa Ejercito, his son Jinggoy, and two of his lawyers for alleged contemptuous statements.

Estrada has repeatedly stressed that he did not expect to get a fair trial and was ready to face the death penalty.

"As I have said before, I no longer care if this court will convict me on fabricated and trumped-up charges," he said.

Estrada appealed to media to spare his family from unfair criticism.

The jailed leader said even his wife suffered the indignity of being served a subpoena, commanding her to attend the scheduled hearings in court.

"This is gross disrespect for the Philippine Senate and constitutes gross ignorance of the law," he said.

The court appointed lawyers vowed to file within 15 days charges of perjury and contempt against the convenors of PlunderWatch.

"They should be held in contempt for disrupting the proceedings of this court. The court has already settled the alleged contemptuous statements made by President Estrada when it allowed him to waive his appearance after promising that he will no longer attack the court," Pamaran said. – With AFP, AP reports