Estrada lawyers delay Ocampo testimony

The scheduled appearance of a prosecution star witness in the plunder trial of deposed President Joseph Estrada was pushed back yesterday after a defense lawyer spent the day cross-examining another witness.

Prosecutors accused the defense of trying to delay the appearance of former Equitable PCIBank senior vice president and trust officer Clarissa Ocampo by asking "repetitious questions."

Ocampo was expected to testify that Estrada owned a secret bank account under the name Jose Velarde which, prosecutors allege, he used for money laundering.

One prosecutor, Assistant Ombudsman Dennis Villa-Ignacio, told reporters after the trial that he expected the move. "Early in the day I warned you that the defense will try to delay the testimony of Ocampo," he said.

Defense lawyer Prospero Crescini denied the charge. "That was a cross-examination. I don’t know about him (Villa-Ignacio). I think he is sick."

Estrada lawyer Manuel Pamaran grilled prosecution witness Caridad Manahan Rodenas, a Land Bank of the Philippines cashier, on accusations that Estrada stole P130 million in tobacco excise taxes by coursing it through the bank.

Prosecutors complained that the defense asked questions that were already asked when they presented the witness. Pamaran maintained he was testing Rodenas’ credibility.

"We are trying, your honor, to speed up this case," Villa-Ignacio told the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court. "We understand the defense gains indeed in the delay of Ocampo’s testimony."

Prosecutors allege Estrada took bribes from illegal gambling rackets, embezzled state funds and profits from insider trading, among other offenses.

He is accused of amassing more than P4 billion during his 31-month rule and stashing the proceeds in a secret bank account with Equitable PCI Bank under the name Jose Velarde.

They say the account contained P3.2 billion at one point.

Defense lawyers contend that the account is owned by Estrada friend Jaime Dichaves, one of Estrada’s seven co-accused. He remains at large.

Estrada has insisted he is innocent and the trial was rigged. He maintains he has not resigned and claims he was illegally forced out of office. He withdrew all his lawyers but the court has given him government-appointed counsel against his wishes.

During Estrada’s aborted impeachment trial in December 2000-January 2001, Ocampo told the Senate – which acted as an impeachment court – that Estrada signed the bank documents as Jose Velarde in her presence in Malacañang on Feb. 4, 2000.

The signing was witnessed by another Equitable official, Manuel Curato, who testified before the Sandiganbayan in April. "He affixed his signature in the name of Jose Velarde," Curato told the anti-graft court.

Estrada signed the name "Jose Velarde" at least 15 times on at least six different bank documents "not as a guarantor, but the principal lender," Curato said.

In the impeachment trial, the Estrada-controlled Senate refused to accept evidence – contained in an envelope – on the Jose Velarde account, sparking the military-backed popular protest that ousted Estrada in January 2001.

He was replaced by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The envelope was never opened and was kept at the Senate archives for safekeeping.

Last week, defense lawyers asked the Sandiganbayan to order the Senate legal counsel to produce the envelope, which, they say, will prove that Dichaves was the real owner of the Jose Velarde account.