Bank official: Erap not Jose Velarde

As the defense panel continued to present its case, a former bank official testified yesterday that "Jose Velarde" is the alias of businessman Jaime Dichaves and not of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

In her testimony for the defense at yesterday’s hearing at the Sandiganbayan, former Equitable PCIBank first vice president Beatriz Bagsit said a P3.2-billion account opened under the name Jose Velarde belonged, not to Estrada, but to his close friend Dichaves.

Estrada is on trial for plunder and perjury before the Sandiganbayan.

Testifying for the defense, Bagsit said she "managed and handled" the Jose Velarde account.

But Bagsit appeared to lack first-hand knowledge of the link between Dichaves and the account.

Bagsit said she first learned of the account from a letter shown to her by her boss, executive vice president Romualdo Dy Tang.

"There was a letter that he gave me that came from Dichaves stating that the account was opened in Binondo. The letter was addressed to Dy Tang, who told me that, if he is out, I was to handle the account personally," she said.

This prompted Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo to question Bagsit’s value as a witness.

He described her testimony as "totally hearsay" and brought up the possibility that Dichaves could have opened the account "for somebody else."

"I’m not worried with her testimony," he said.

The signature of Dichaves, Marcelo said, also differs significantly from the signatures that appear in documents related to the Velarde account, especially in the letter J’s of "Jaime" and "Jose."

Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa—Ignacio shared Marcelo’s observations.

He said Bagsit failed to refute the testimony of their star witness, senior vice president Clarissa Ocampo, who had claimed she was a foot away when Estrada signed as José Velarde.

"She was not present when the account was opened. It’s all hearsay. The signatures appearing in the documents are very much different," he said.

The prosecution’s star witness, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, belittled Bagsit’s testimony. He said Estrada’s lawyers are just "covering" up for Estrada by "diverting" the ownership of the Velarde account to Dichaves.

"Of course, the defense will do everything to divert the case and will do everything to destroy all the star witnesses’ credibility. They can always fabricate stories which are beyond imagination," Singson said.

In an interview with broadcast journalist Pia Hontiveros of ABS-CBN, Estrada admitted he signed as Jose Velarde, but insisted he did so only on behalf of Dichaves.

Bagsit, the defense panel’s 32nd witness, said she decided to avail herself of an early retirement package in 2001 shortly after the ouster of Estrada because of pressure from the Velarde case and the intrusion of "politics" in bank policies and operations.

"My bosses at that time were also resigning so I did not want to be left behind. After the impeachment trial was aborted, I just decided to retire," she told the court.