Estrada: I am not Jose Valhalla

President Estrada has flatly denied that he used a secret bank account in the name of "Jose Valhalla" to finance a mansion for one of his mistresses. He also said it was not his signature that appeared on a check used to pay for the mansion.

"That’s what they claim. I have nothing to do with that," Mr. Estrada said yesterday.

But he declined to elaborate. "Let’s just leave it to the impeachment court, to the Senate. Let’s not talk about the case anymore," he said.

Prosecutors in the impeachment trial alleged that the signature of "Valhalla" was similar to Mr. Estrada’s signature as seen in Philippine bank notes.

On the opening day of Mr. Estrada’s impeachment trial, prosecutor Joker Arroyo showed senators a copy of the P142-million Equitable-PCIBank check bearing Valhalla’s signature.

"You need not be an expert to see the similarity. There are unmistakable signs that the signature in that check is the signature in the handwriting of the President of the Philippines," Arroyo told senators.

Valhalla’s check was allegedly used to pay the bank account of Mr. Estrada’s associate, Jose Yulo. Yulo, in turn, funded St. Peter’s Holdings, a corporation which acquired an P86-million property on Oct. 1, 1999, on which was built a luxurious mansion that allegedly housed one of Mr. Estrada’s mistresses.

Arroyo said the check was among the pieces of evidence they will use to prove the corruption allegations against the President.

Last Tuesday, upon orders from the Senate, Equitable PCIBank turned over several documents pertaining to Valhalla’s account.

Chief Justice Hilario Davide, the impeachment trial’s presiding officer, ordered the bank to place the documents in a sealed envelope and submit this to the custody of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel.

However, Davide forbade the prosecution and the defense to open the envelope and examine its contents pending oral arguments on the legality of his order to the bank.

The bank initially refused to turn over the documents citing the bank secrecy law. However, the prosecution maintained that the law clearly stated that secrecy provision does not apply on impeachment proceedings.

Davide issued the order upon a motion from Arroyo in a bid to protect the records from tampering attempts. Arroyo said the prosecution got a handwriting expert from Britain’s famed Scotland Yard police force to examine the specimen signatures appearing on the documents.