Erap denies misdeclaring assets

Ousted President Joseph Estrada testified in court yesterday that the money held in private accounts that he allegedly failed to report on his 1999 statement of assets and liabilities (SAL) consisted of legitimate campaign contributions.

As he underwent cross-examination during his plunder trial before a special division of the Sandiganbayan, the 69-year-old Estrada dismissed as politically motivated charges he amassed about P4 billion from illegal gambling payoffs, tax kickbacks and commissions.

In his ninth appearance on the witness stand in three months, Estrada tried to rebut a charge of perjury for allegedly underreporting his assets in 1999, a year after he was elected.

Estrada claimed the funds were political campaign contributions and that he was only nominally the account holder as the leader of his party, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

He didn’t present records to prove the funds were political contributions because, he said, "you don’t ask for receipts from your campaign contributors."

Asked by Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio if he had accounts at Security Bank and Keppel Bank, Estrada answered that the money held in these banks belonged to the PMP and consisted of campaign contributions.

He acknowledged that the bank accounts were opened under his name, as the leader of the PMP.

Estrada told the court that he had instructed PMP officials and then party treasurer Manuel Zamora to make a proper reporting on the campaign contributions to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The accounts were opened under his name as trustee because the PMP at the time had still to submit its incorporation papers to the Securities and Exchange Commission, he added.

However, Villa Ignacio told reporters yesterday that he was convinced Estrada was the owner "in paper" of the money kept at Keppel Bank and Security Bank.

"He is the account owner in paper," he said. "He did not open the accounts in the name of the PMP. He did not declare that he was just a trustee for the bank account."

In his 1998 SAL, Estrada had declared his assets as P377,385,307.08 including P5,038,363.40 in cash on hand and in banks.

In 2001, an investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman revealed that Estrada’s total assets included P57,106,201.40 in three bank accounts alone.

Among these assets were P44,268,442.68 with Keppel Bank, and P12,289,636.88 with Security Bank.

Before Estrada’s cross-examination could start, retired Manila fiscal Jose Flaminiano, one of the defense lawyers, asked the court to exclude Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson from the courtroom as he was a potential rebuttal witness.

"If Chavit is being considered as a rebuttal witness, the prosecution should exclude him from the court proceedings," he said. "Considering the case is a capital offense, the accused has a right to a fair trial and the concept of fairness."

However, the court denied the motion after the prosecution said that Singson had already testified, and that it would be premature to consider him as a rebuttal witness. — Mike Frialde