'2nd envelope' is accepted as evidence in Erap plunder case

The Sandiganbayan on Wednesday admitted as evidence the contents of the controversial "second envelope" that triggered the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001. The second envelope contains a letter from Romualdo Dy Tang, an executive of the Equitable PCI-Bank, who tagged Estrada's alleged crony Jaime Dichaves as the owner of the "Jose Velarde" account. The decision came after the Sandiganbayan Special Division junked all objections raised by the prosecution and admitted into the record almost all the evidence offered by lawyers of deposed President Joseph Estrada in his defense presentation. Jose Flaminiano, co-lead counsel for Estrada, said he plans to file a motion for reconsideratiion so that seven documentary exhibits could still be accepted by the court. He said that the non-admission of the seven exhibits was ‘a simple oversight’ that can be remedied by a motion for reconsideration. “We failed to attach those documents that were not admitted. Usual lang naman yan, sa sobrang dami ng evidence, di maiwasan na may nakakalimutan," Flaminiano said. The contents of the so-called ‘second envelope’ is expected to contest allegations made by prosecution star witnesses Clarissa Ocampo, Manuel Curato and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson who have testified that Estrada is the owner of the Jose Velarde account at the Equitable-PCI Bank. Bank records showed the Velarde account at one time contained P3.2 billion which the prosecution claimed to have come from Estrada’s illegal gambling payola, profit commissions from stock market transactions of the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System and kickbacks from various government projects. Also accepted by the court were audit reports detailing various anomalies involving millions in government funds concerning transactions of the provincial government of Ilocos Sur under Singson’s administration. Prosecutors tried to block the admission of the said documents on the ground that they were immaterial and irrelevant or were not duly identified in violation of the ‘best evidence rule’. The court however overruled the argument of government lawyers noted that Dy Tang testified in court on the questioned letter and bank documents while the COA reports were testified on by defense witness, Agaton Dacayanan who was Ilocos Sur’s provincial auditor from 1995 to 1998. “The prosecution’s objections refer more to the probative value of the documents which will be duly considered by the Court in its decision," the Sandiganbayan said in 14-page Resolution. - GMANews.TV