Sunday, November 25, 2007 Mercado: Shattered ‘piggy bank’ By Juan L. Mercado Sidebar
SURPRISE! The P3,233,104,173.13, which the anti-graft court found stashed in the notorious Jose Velarde account, has now dwindled to only P2,770.69.
Ousted President Joseph Estrada lawyers now say: “Sorry, we’ve already stashed away the P3.2 billion,” Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio fumed in a radio interview. “But you’re welcome to take the P2,000.”
Started with a one peso deposit, the account ballooned to P3,233,104,173.13 in a year. Estrada insisted that: Velarde was his crony Jaime Dichavez, who skipped town ahead of the cops.
But the trial proved that Estrada masqueraded as Jose Velarde. Thus, the P3.2 billion should be forfeited.
Erap had May 1998 to October 2007 to launder those accounts” for mistresses, kith and kin, noted the New York blog: “My National Disaster: the Republic of the Philippines,” written by ex-PCCG commissioner Ruben Carranza.
Except for $846 million that PCGG, under the late Haydee Yorac tracked down, most of the Marcos loot hasn’t been recovered either. Naisahan na naman ang Pinoy?
The President and minions hurriedly unhooked Estrada, then twisting in the wind, with a pardon. “Noche Buena, at the Estradas, were always fun,” chortled Interior Secretary Ronaldo Pono, as Malacañang rushed pardon papers.
Kung sino ang nagmamadali, ay siyang nagluluat,” the Pilipino proverb says. “He who hurries is delayed.”
Ignored were nitty-gritty items: civil liabilities, time frames, etc. Consequences were glossed over. So were, prisoneros olvidades, the poor who lacked clout, Catholic Bishops Conference president Angel Lagdameo noted.
Estrada insists pardon does not compel a plunderer (i.e. Estrada) to pay value of what he stole. The case is forfeiture of plundered assets, not a debt of money. We can keep Tanay, Polk Street, sports cars, Loi Estrada weighs in.
“Beforehand, the (court and prosecutors) should have protected accounts subject to this case,” defense counsel Jose Flaminiano pontificated. In effect, they blame Sandiganbayan for failing to prevent Erap from hiding stolen money. Talk about gall!
Emptied bank accounts do not alter plunder. “Bank documents show, without doubt, the Boracay mansion was purchased (for P142 million) withdrawn from Jose Velarde’s account,” the court said. It has been cannibalized since.
The Ombudsman sought Urban Bank records of Jose Victor Ejercito. From UB’s trust account number 858, Ejercito funneled over P182 million into the Velarde account, the court found. And Estrada’s personal secretary, Lucena “Baby” Ortaliza deposited almost a billion pesos for Jose Velarde.
The Supreme Court supported the Ombudsman--–but in 2006. In an age where funds can be transferred by a computer mouse click, even a 24-hour delay can be fatal.
Estrada is not an accused person presumed innocent, the blog asserts. “He is a convict, pardoned and freed from prison, but not from forfeiture,” the blog points.
What is being seized here? Bank accounts? Or money that was once there? If we take defense lawyers seriously, “then all the People of the Philippines can get back from Estrada is a broken piggy bank.”
By keeping the court sheriff at bay, Erap prevents execution of the un-pardoned penalty of forfeiture. “Doesn’t this constitute a continuing crime of money laundering?” the blog asks.
And in 2010, will we have a presidential candidate who is a pardoned plunderer and serial money-launderer as well?
Erap’s shattered piggy bank doesn’t stand up against the example set by Zacchaeus the tax collector. “Half of my goods I give to the poor,” Zacchaeus told the Master. “And if I’ve cheated anyone, I pay back four times as much.”
