Estrada’s errand lady insists Dichaves owns bank account

A former employee of deposed President Joseph Estrada has maintained that he was not the real owner of the Jose Velarde secret bank account but the fallen leader’s friend, Jaime Dichaves.

In her affidavit submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, Lucena Ortaliza also said that she should not be charged as Estrada’s co-accused in his corruption trial "because I did not conspire with President Estrada in any unlawful activity."

Estrada, with Dichaves as one of his co-accused, is currently on trial for allegedly amassing millions of pesos by in bribes from jueteng operators, pocketing tobacco excise taxes and profiting from insider trading.

Prosecutors allege that he used the Velarde account to launder proceeds of illegal gambling kickbacks, embezzled state funds and profits from insider trading, among other charges. They said the account contained P3.2 billion at one point.

Last month, a watchdog group of lawyers led by Marie Yuvienco filed a complaint against Ortaliza, stating that she should stand as Estrada’s co-accused in his corruption trial.

The lawsuit stemmed from Ortaliza’s admission in a media interview last month that she deposited millions of pesos in the Jose Velarde account with Equitable PCI Bank’s Binondo, Manila, branch, and in Estrada’s accounts with Security Bank’s San Juan branch.

In her affidavit, Ortaliza argued she was only acting upon Dichaves’ instructions, explaining that she worked part-time for Dichaves at the same time that she worked for Estrada as an errand woman. Dichaves hired her upon Estrada’s recommendation, she said.

"I admit having worked for President Estrada and to have handled the personal needs of his family. But it is not for former President Estrada, but rather for Mr. Dichaves, that I delivered checks for deposits in the Jose Velarde account in Equitable PCI Bank," her affidavit stated.

In her affidavit, Ortaliza challenged Yuvienco’s group to produce solid evidence that the Jose Velarde account did belong to Estrada and that the money in the account was ill-gotten.

"As an employee of Mr. Dichaves, I had delivered on his instructions to deposit some checks in his Jose Velarde account in Equitable PCI Bank. I do not know the amounts or the sources of those checks nor am I aware of any unlawful activity of Mr. Dichaves," her affidavit stated.

She also asked Ombudsman Aniano Desierto to show to her evidence that specifically showed her involvement.

"I repeat: Never have I made any deposit or caused the deposit in the Jose Velarde account in Equitable PCI Bank for and on behalf of President Estrada," Ortaliza stated in her affidavit.

Estrada was ousted in a military-backed popular protest in January 2001 after pro-Estrada senators refused to admit evidence in his impeachment trial that could have proved that the Jose Velarde account belonged to him.

Two Equitable PCI Bank officials testified in the unprecedented impeachment trial that Estrada signed bank documents in Malacañang as "Jose Velarde" in February 2000.

Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan yesterday rejected Estrada’s petition that he and his son and co-accused, former San Juan mayor Jinggoy Estrada, be allowed to vote in the July 15 local elections in San Juan, where they are registered voters.

Instead, the anti-graft court said Estrada and his son can vote at Veterans Memorial Medical Center, a military hospital in Quezon City where they are detained.

Allowing the Estradas to vote elsewhere might cause an "enormous problem of security and safety of both the accused and the public that would confront the (police) exactly at the time that the (Philippine National Police) would experience serious constraint of resources in maintaining peace and order nationwide," the court said.

Last year, the Sandiganbayan likewise turned down an Estrada request to vote in San Juan for the May general elections.

Also yesterday in Estrada’s trial, a prosecution witness testified that a brother of former Ilocos Sur governor Luis "Chavit" Singson is a jueteng operator in the Ilocos region.

Under questioning by Estrada lawyer Prospero Crescini, Singson’s personal secretary Emma Lim also testified that Bonito Singson would deliver money to the elder Singson representing proceeds from the illegal numbers game for delivery to Estrada.

In October 2000, the former governor blew the whistle on his former drinking buddy when Estrada sided with a rival in a dispute over turf. Singson’s allegations eventually led to Estrada’s downfall.

Defense lawyers have been trying to prove that Singson was the real owner of the Jose Velarde account.