NBI wants ‘Boracay’ mansion forfeited

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended the forfeiture of the so-called "Boracay" mansion in favor of the government.

The mansion in New Manila, Quezon City is believed to have been bought by deposed President Joseph Estrada for his favorite mistress, former movie actress Laarni Enriquez.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco made the recommendation following findings that the funds used to purchase the multimillion-peso property came from the "Jose Velarde" account at Equitable-PCI Bank.

"The only question now is who is Jose Velarde," Wycoco said.

Prosecutors in the failed impeachment trial of Estrada maintained that Jose Velarde and the ousted leader were one and the same person.

Equitable-PCI Bank senior vice president Clarissa Ocampo testified during the hearings that she was seated one foot away from Estrada at Malacañang when he signed bank documents as Jose Velarde.

"Based on the investigation we conducted, the name of Jose Luis Yulo came out as the name of the person who owns the property and the one who sold it to Jaime Dichaves," Wycoco revealed.

Dichaves, a known ally of Estrada, wrote Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. claiming he owned the Jose Velarde account which at one time held as much as P3.2 billion, but was emptied on the same day that the House of Representatives impeached Estrada last Nov. 13.

Wycoco told reporters that they were certain that the money used to buy the Boracay mansion, which sits on a 7,145-square-meter lot, came from the Velarde account. He said it was now up to the Office of the Ombudsman to determine who really is Jose Velarde.

He said the probers encountered legal technicalities particularly in the paper trail pertaining to the acquisition of the property.

The NBI is also looking into the ownership of other palatial homes in the posh Wack Wack subdivision in Mandaluyong City suspected to have been acquired by Estrada for his several mistresses, including a 4,815-sqare-meter property on Harvard street registered under the name of Jacinto Ng, a 3,043-sq. m. house on 551 Harvard street under the name of Verdant Forest Highlands Inc., a 2,327-sq. m. lot on 973 Stanford street in the name of Becks Resources Corp., and a 1,162-sq. m. mansion on 771 Harvard street in the name of Lucio Co.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez expressed concern that Estrada could use his vast "ill-gotten wealth" to destabilize the Arroyo administration which is pressing criminal charges against the disgraced leader.

Golez clarified, however, that Estrada is not considered a security threat at this time "because our perception is that he’s just engaged in normal campaigning" for senatorial candidates of the opposition coalition Puwersa ng Masa, among them his wife, Dr. Luisa Ejercito.

"However, if he starts using his reputed money to fund armed groups for example, and maybe engage in illegal activities, then he would become a security threat," Golez said.

Government lawyers have estimated that Estrada has amassed anywhere from P10 billion to P15 billion during his 31-month stay in power.

"Even with a hundred million pesos, you can create a lot of mischief here in the Philippines," Golez said.

In another development, former Sen. Santanina Rasul said Estrada’s popularity has been boosting the chances of the opposition bets for the Senate in the May 14 elections.

"It is a big advantage to be linked to President Estrada. Comments that Estrada was very unpopular because of what had happened (at EDSA) were proven wrong in our campaigns," Rasul told reporters at a press conference in Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

Estrada has been attending most of the opposition rallies and campaign sorties. He has been using the hustings as a forum to air his grievances against alleged injustice committed against him by the "rich people from Ayala."

Some opposition bets, notably re-electionist Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, said in their speeches that they still recognize Estrada as the true president, and that they would help the poor undertake EDSA III to reclaim power from Mrs. Arroyo.

Rasul claimed that administration candidates were not really popular with the masses, citing reports of tomato-throwing incidents marring the rallies of the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC). – With Efren Danao