Ocampo's new bombs in Manila full of ironies

Ocampo's new bombs in Manila full of ironies

By Neal H. Cruz

MANILA: Bombs are still exploding in Metro Manila. And the bomber has been identified. She is a pretty bank official, and her name is Clarissa Ocampo.

Ocampo exploded more bombs last Tuesday at the Senate impeachment trial of President Estrada. The bombs were so powerful they could blast Erap right out of Malacanang; they already sent Erap's lead lawyer, Estelito Mendoza, running for cover. Shrapnel hit presidential crony Jaime Dichaves, the President's lawyer Fernando Chua and former Equitable PCI Bank chair and the President's friend George L. Go.

The first bomb blasted the claim of Dichaves that the "Jose Velarde" account belonged to him. On the contrary, it showed that Dichaves, Chua and Go tried to cover up for the President by making a second set of documents pertaining to the P500-million loan to Wellex Corp. to make it appear that the "Jose Velarde" account belonged to Dichaves.

The second bomb revealed that the signing of the documents was made in the office of presidential counsel Estelito Mendoza. The lawyer denied knowing of and being present during the signing. But why was the signing made in his office in the first place?

The third bomb revealed that Chua went to Ocampo's office after the "Jose Velarde" account surfaced and asked her what the bank was doing with the documents of the investment management agreement (IMA) on which the President signed not his name but the name Jose Velarde. She replied that management was reviewing them. Chua then told her to "protect the President".

The fourth bomb revealed that the P1.2-billion "Jose Velarde" account was already in existence in 1999 when Erap filed his statement of assets and liabilities wherein he declared under oath that his total assets amounted to only P35 million.

All these show that Erap committed an illegal act by using an alias for his bank account, that his lawyers and friends tried to hide this fact by having a new set of bank documents made in which Dichaves was the owner of the account (this opens Dichaves and the lawyers to charges of obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence) and that Erap lied under oath in his statement of assets and liabilities.

It may be relevant to note that US President Richard Nixon was impeached and forced to resign on charges of obstruction of justice. He was not charged with ordering the Watergate break-in but in trying to cover it up. In Erap's case, it is his friends and lawyers who tried to cover up his illegal acts.

Ocampo's latest bombshell is full of ironies. One is that it was Erap's defenders in the Senate, notably Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who paved the way for the new expose, and that it was a non-lawyer, Sen. Loren Legarda, who lighted the fuse of the bombs.

Another irony is that the defense refrained from cross- examining Ocampo, prompting the senator-judges to question her, and this led to the new revelations.

A third irony is that Erap's allies in the Senate were trying to help him by trying to impugn the credibility of the witness and the admissibility of her documents. Instead they led him to disaster.

When Ocampo finished her direct testimony, the defense panel waived cross-examination based on its continuing objection to her testimony allegedly because it is irrelevant and immaterial to the Articles of Impeachment.

Another reason is that they knew she was telling the truth and cross-examining her could only strengthen her testimony as it did the testimony of Emma Lim. And knowing what Mendoza knows about her knowledge of what went on in his office, it was extremely hazardous to question her further. It was best to let her go quickly.

But Enrile wanted to help Erap by destroying Ocampo's credibility and asked that he be allowed to question her. In a caucus, the senators agreed to extend to five minutes the period of questioning the witness. And the defense's worst fears were fulfilled.

All the hostile questions of Enrile and the other Erap allies (John Osmeqa, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Tessie Aquino-Oreta) did not faze Ocampo.

There are many lawyers in the Senate who think they are smart, but it was a non-lawyer, Senator Legarda who asked the question that opened the Pandora's box and exposed the attempted cover-up.

Legarda asked Ocampo what prompted her to voluntarily come out and testify. Ocampo said when she saw in the newspapers the Jose Velarde signature on the P142-million check used to pay for the Boracay mansion, she knew she had to come out because she could identify the owner.

She also feared for her safety and that of her family, knowing that she was a witness to Erap's signing of his alias Jose Velarde on the bank documents.

"I was concerned (because) Attorney Chua saw me sometime (in the) first week of December asking me about the documents and what we were doing about it," she said. "So...they remembered that I was there. I witnessed. And apparently, after reviewing all transactions in the bank (they saw) probably (there were) just two of us who actually saw the President sign as Jose Velarde. This is the government, this is Malacanang."

Besides she said she was concerned about the orders from her superior, Go, to prepare a new set of documents, and the fact that the signing was done in the office of Mendoza. And all hell broke loose.

Note that the right question was not asked by any of the lawyers in the room. Not by the prosecution, not one of the senator-lawyers. It was asked by a non-lawyer, Senator Legarda, a sensible layman. Thank heaven, for non-lawyers.

-- The Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network