Estrada has dug own grave, pro-Arroyo solons say
By Rene Acosta
Reporter

THE admission of former President Joseph Estrada that he signed as “Jose Velarde” further incriminated him in the plunder case, where the prosecution has accused him of pocketing P4.1 billion in jueteng payoffs and kickbacks from government transactions, proadministration congressmen said on Tuesday.
       “Deposed President Estrada’s admission that he signed as ‘Jose Velarde’ was the final nail in his legal coffin that he ironically hammered down himself,” House majority leader Prospero Nograles and Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur said in a joint statement.
       Both said that instead of extricating himself from the case, Estrada only burrowed himself deeper when he confirmed former EquitablePCI Bank vice president Clarissa Ocampo’s testimony that he signed as “Jose Velarde” in the bank documents.
       Both did not buy the argument of the former president that he had to sign as “Velarde” in order to assure his businessmen-friend, William Gatchalian, would pay his loan to Jaime Dichavez.
       In his testimony before the Sandiganbayan’s Special Division on Wednesday, the former president said that he was asked by businessman Jaime Dichavez to own up to the alias in order to ensure that Gatchalian would pay for his P500 million debt.
       “As guarantor, why did Erap need to use a different name? As a close ally of Jaime Dichavez, who claims ownership of the Velarde account, why did Erap have to sign bank documents to guarantee a loan between two of his cronies?” Cagas asked.
       He said that if it was a personal loan that Estrada was guaranteeing, then Estrada should have just directed both Gatchalian and Dichaves to reach an understanding over the loan.
       The prosecution said the Velarde account was opened to serve as depository of Estrada’s illegal income.
       Nograles said that Estrada was forced to admit his use of the alias because he could not throw the eyewitness testimonies of Ocampo and Manuel Curato, who is another former official of the bank.
       “His reason for doing so is shallow and unbelievable, and it escapes human logic. It’s the case of his hand being caught inside the cookie jar,” he said of the former president.