Banks: There’re no Pidal, Toh accounts

Two banks mentioned by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in his money laundering accusations against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo have issued certifications saying Victoria Toh, Mr. Arroyo’s secretary, and Jose Pidal do not have accounts in those banks.

At a press conference yesterday, Toh’s lawyer Gelacio Mamaril identified the banks as Union Bank of the Philippines and Banco de Oro.

In a privilege speech on Sept. 1, Lacson alleged that Toh was co-owner of a joint account with Jose Pidal and he gave the account number as 0073-001918-4. Lacson said the joint account had a balance of P23.5 million as of July 2003.

Lacson also said Toh owned Banco de Oro account number 00218008-731 with a balance of P19.5 million as of July 2003.

In a letter to Toh dated Sept. 5, Banco de Oro president Nestor Tan said "based on records available to us and to the best of our knowledge" the account mentioned by Lacson "does not exist."

UnionBank sent Mamaril a letter, also dated Sept. 5, in which bank executive vice president Teodoro Panganiban said "upon verification with our records, there is no account opened at Union Bank of the Philippines in the joint name of Jose Pidal and/or Victoria Toh."

"The replies we received carry the weight of the respective financial institutions in effectively debunking Senator Lacson’s malicious allegations, which we hope our people and the Senate will accept as being the truthful and impartial submissions which they are," Mamaril said.

He added that the certifications of UnionBank and Banco de Oro "cover all branches" of the two banks nationwide.

Mamaril said Toh, her brother Thomas Jr. and her brother-in-law, Kelvin Tan, had all waived their rights under the Bank Secrecy Law so they could refute Lacson’s allegations.

Mamaril added that, besides UnionBank and Banco de Oro, his clients also wrote to Philam Savings Bank, Allied Bank, Metrobank and Banco Filipino.

Lacson had said Toh has a joint account with Jose Pidal in Philam Savings Bank with a balance of P23.7 million as of June 2003.

The opposition senator also said Thomas owned a Metrobank account with a balance of P8.1 million and Kelvin Tan has an Allied Bank account with a P9.6 million balance.

Lacson alleged that the First Gentleman used the pseudonym Jose Pidal for money laundering purposes and insinuated that the Mr. Arroyo had an extra-marital relationship with Toh.

Mr. Arroyo’s younger brother, Ignacio, came forward and said he was Jose Pidal and that he had opened an account in UnionBank under an alias to fend off any attempts to kidnap him.

Ignacio also said he used the UnionBank account for legitimate business and closed the account in 2001, when the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) went into effect.

Mamaril said he was "confident" that the other banks mentioned by Lacson would issue certifications similar to those issued by UnionBank and Banco de Oro.

"It (is) impossible for banks to lie about the certifications," he said, replying to reporters’ queries.

Mamaril also said his clients would be willing to issue a special power of attorney (SPA) if the Senate or Lacson requests such a document.

The Tohs are poised to file a libel case against Lacson as soon as they return home from Canada. They intend to sue the senator for the allegations he made before media that they own such bank accounts, particularly the joint Jose Pidal/Victoria Toh account.

"This is, again, absolute untruthful assertion, which Senator Lacson has peddled to the public with the intention of further besmirching Miss Toh’s already sullied reputation," Mamaril said. "We will be seeking legal redress on behalf of our client at the soonest possible time."

Mamaril said there are also other criminal cases that may be filed by his clients against Lacson under the Revised Penal Code, including "revelation of secrets and intriguing against honor."

He said they are also studying whether to sue supposed whistleblower Eugenio Mahusay Jr., Lacson’s erstwhile star witness.

Mamaril said Lacson should definitely compensate Toh for the damage his expose inflicted upon her, "but we couldn’t quantify anymore the damage that (Lacson) has caused her."

He said that, with the banks’ certifications, the complaint his clients intend to file before the Senate ethics committee against Lacson will certainly prosper.

Lacson came under heavy criticism from the business and banking sectors, as well as from fellow legislators who now want an end to what they have branded Lacson’s "fishing expedition."

Eroding confidence

Manila Rep. Jaime Lopez, chairman of both the congressional oversight committee on the AMLA and the banking and financial intermediaries committee, warned of eroding confidence in the Philippine banking system and the flight of investments following "irregular disclosures" of private persons’ bank records by Lacson.

He said public confidence in the country’s banking system, particularly banks’ ability to safeguard account holders’ and transactors’ rights, is "absolutely essential for the strength and well-being of the country."

"Any unauthorized disclosure is prejudicial to the interests of the banking system," Lopez said in a statement. "If there is any taint at all (showing) that our banks cannot safeguard depositors’ rights, especially their right to bank secrecy, then we may see an outflow of funds and a waning of interest by foreign investors in our local business prospects."

He said there were many cases, particularly in Latin America and Italy, where banking scandals triggered capital flight and forced investors to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

Everyone, including government officials, should be warned against disclosing in any public forum alleged deposits or investments by any person or persons with any banking or financial institution, he added.

"The AMLA is replete with safeguards when it provides that even a suspicious transaction cannot be disclosed to anybody," Lopez said.

The Bank Secrecy Law prohibits the opening to scrutiny any bank deposit or investment, except under the following circumstances: Upon written consent of the depositor; in cases of impeachment; upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials; and cases where the money deposited is the subject of a matter of litigation.

The AMLA, Lopez said, provides another exemption to the Bank Secrecy Law. Under the AMLA investigators "may inquire into or examine any particular deposit or investment with any banking institution or non-bank financial institution upon the order of any competent court in cases of violation of the AMLA."

These investigations may only be conducted when it is established that there is probable cause to suspect the deposits or investments in question are related to an unlawful activity as defined by the AMLA or are proceeds of money laundering.

The AMLA, Lopez added, provides stiff penalties against any person who, with malice or in bad faith, reports or files completely unwarranted or false information relative to money laundering transactions against anyone.

This type of violation is punishable under the AMLA with imprisonment of six months to four years and a fine of P100,000 to P500,000.

Other safeguards provided under the law prevent the AMLA from being used as a tool of political persecution or harassment, Lopez added.

‘Lies, lies and more lies"

In another development, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Roberto Lastimoso accused Lacson of using the Jose Pidal expose as part of a grand plan to eliminate possible opponents in the 2004 presidential race, which Lacson already said he is joining.

"Lacson is an incorrigible liar," Lastimoso said. "He and his group unseated me as PNP chief using fabrications and lies linking me with drug lords because Lacson wanted so much my post then."

Lastimoso said he is all too familiar with Lacson’s methods of using diagrams, false affidavits, false documents and intimidation to destroy people’s reputations.

"When I saw Lacson’s expose, my memory was refreshed, making me recall (that he used) the same method against me in linking my name to drug lords," Lastimoso said. "Now they have these diagrams and false affidavits again to look credible."

Because of rumors that Lastimoso said were spread by Lacson, Lastimoso was investigated by the House, Senate and the Sandiganbayan. All of the cases against Lastimoso were later dismissed.

"In the end, people will realize that all Lacson has are lies, lies and more lies," Lastimoso said. "He should stop destroying the reputations of innocent people."

Meanwhile, the House minority bloc reiterated the challenge it issued earlier to Ignacio Arroyo, daring the First Gentleman’s brother to claim his P1 million reward now that the PNP Crime Laboratory has confirmed that his signature and the signature of Jose Pidal were made by the same person.

House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla said Ignacio must undergo a series of on-the-spot signature sampling tests before claiming his prize money.

These signatures, Padilla said. will be examined by international handwriting experts.

The PNP, Padilla said, "only showed the report, without its usual analysis of divergences and convergences of the sample signatures."

He added that he finds it "very strange that Ignacio Arroyo is not claiming his P1 million reward. I can only suspect that he is afraid he will fail our truth test." — With Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez