Palace treated bank execs after Estrada trial — witness

In honor of Equitable PCI bank officials and employees who had testified against former President Joseph Estrada in his impeachment trial, Malacañang hosted a party weeks after the leader stepped down on Jan. 20 last year.

This was revealed yesterday by Equitable PCI bank manager Edelquinn Nantes during cross-examination by Estrada counsel de officio Prospero Cresini in the ousted chief executive’s continuing plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City.

Nantes, who manages the bank’s Timog-Scout Tobias branch, was the 20th witness presented by the prosecution.

The witness, however, could not recall if the party was held in the morning, afternoon or night.

All Nantes could remember, she said, was that she and other bank employees and officials, including star witness Clarissa Ocampo, had received an invitation to attend the party at Malacañang.

Ocampo, a former vice president and now a consultant of the bank, had testified in the impeachment trial that Estrada had signed a bank document as Jose Velarde, which prosecutors claim was an alias used by the jailed leader in keeping a P3-billion account.

Nantes said other witnesses who had been invited to the party included bank vice president Manuel Curato, branch managers Rosario Bautista, Shakira Yu, Edgardo Alcaraz, Vergel Pabillon and Emma Gonzales.

"It was my first time to enter Malacañang, There were at least five tables, which could accommodate 10 persons each. I was seated with the other branch managers who had testified in the impeachment trial," Nantes said.

The witness said the guests stayed for almost two hours as President Arroyo hopped from table to table, shaking their hands.

Nantes said several Cabinet members, senators, congressmen and government officials were also present, although she could not identify them.

"Their faces were familiar, but I cannot recall their names," she said.

In an interview after the trial, Cresini said Nantes was obviously lying when she said she couldn’t remember the officials who attended the affair.

"This only shows the bias of the witnesses. They were briefed at Malacañang. The Department of Justice, Office of the Ombudsman and Malacañang have gone too far... a sitting President meddling in the prosecution of the case," she said.

Earlier, Nantes had testified that Estrada’s alleged jueteng accountant, Yolanda Ricaforte, was a client of Equitable PCI Bank.

Bautista, who manages the bank’s Matalino branch in Diliman, Quezon City, later testified that Ricaforte opened a savings account with an initial cash deposit of P500,000 on Nov. 19, 1999.

The witness said Ricaforte closed the account three days later and opened a combination savings and current account with an initial deposit of P70 million.