‘Jose Pidal’ clams up

President Arroyo’s brother-in-law insisted yesterday he was the real Jose Pidal but refused to divulge his finances to a Senate hearing into the scandal, invoking his right to privacy. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo even refused to sign the name Jose Pidal at the inquiry even though police handwriting experts earlier said Arroyo’s signature and those of Jose Pidal matched.

Senators also got nothing from officials of two banks summoned to shed light on the Jose Pidal accounts that Arroyo had with their banks.

The officials said they could not give details because of the Bank Secrecy Law.

Arroyo asked the Senate to stop the inquiry into his finances, arguing he was a private citizen.

"I’m invoking my right to privacy," Arroyo told the hearing 20 times, frustrating attempts by senators to inquire into his financial status.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson has accused First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo of laundering millions of pesos in several bank accounts. At least three of the accounts were under the name "Jose Pidal."

Lacson disputes Ignacio Arroyo’s claim to the Pidal accounts, pointing out that Arroyo’s income tax payments did not appear to be those of an "extremely wealthy individual."

Reading from a prepared statement, Arroyo admitted owning two Jose Pidal accounts opened in two banks.

He said he opened one in Union Bank in 1997 and one in BPI-Family Bank the following year. The accounts were closed in 2000 and 2001, respectively, Arroyo said.

Arroyo said he recognized the Senate’s power to conduct inquiries. But he said the power should not be used to violate the constitutional guarantee on the right to privacy.

The Senate "should not allow itself to be part of this illegal act," he said.

"My financial capability is a private matter," Arroyo told three Senate committees conducting the joint inquiry, adding that his finances could only be looked into "by proper court action."

"I cannot understand why, as a private citizen, the matter of my tax payments should be made the subject matter of an inquiry in aid of legislation," he said. "I have committed no crime, nor have I been a part of the commission of any."

Arroyo invoked his right to privacy as soon as the first question was put to him by Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda.

Legarda asked about a check for P5 million that then Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez had donated to Lualhati Foundation, run by President Arroyo and her husband, but allegedly found its way into a Jose Pidal account.

"This is a private matter. I am a private citizen and Mark Jimenez was also then a private citizen," Ignacio Arroyo said.

He likewise declined to answer Sen. Edgardo Angara’s question on the accounts he kept in UnionBank and BPI Family Bank.

Angara got the same answer when he asked Arroyo if he made $2.5 million in down payments for an apartment and a commercial building in San Francisco that were said to be owned by the First Couple.

Ignacio had earlier claimed ownership of the buildings.

Responding to a question from Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, Arroyo did say he earned as much a P7 million a year from two sugar plantations that he inherited from his parents and managed in Negros Occidental before they were given to the government’s agrarian reform program for distribution to farmers.

He also admitted renting an apartment in Bacolod City but that he owned apartments in Manila and a house in Quezon City that is still under his mother’s name.

"But I have income from abroad, from the United States," he said. But he again invoked his right to privacy when Osmeña asked him for details.

Senators asked Arroyo to be more cooperative in his answers, pointing out it was he who claimed to be Jose Pidal, but to no avail.

Finally exasperated by Arroyo’s replies, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. questioned the constitutional basis of such right to privacy. "That is not in the Constitution," he said, accusing Arroyo of obstructing justice.

That prompted Sen. Joker Arroyo, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee and head of the inquiry, to declare a five-minute recess to allow Arroyo to examine a copy of the Constitution.

"We should not allow the recalcitrance of this witness who refuses to come clean and who is obstructing justice," Pimentel told his colleagues. "His passive invocation of his right to privacy is frustrating the ends of justice."

Senator Arroyo said the issue raised by Pimentel would be resolved in a closed-door session. Ignacio Arroyo, however, said he would continue to invoke his right to privacy.

In a press conference later in the day, Ignacio Arroyo said his refusal to answer questions prevented the inquiry from turning into a "mere fishing expedition in the interest of partisan politics."

"The Senate has jurisdiction over public officials and I am a private citizen," he added.

Arroyo repeated his challenge to Lacson to take him to court. "There, in the proper forum, where any evidence will be weighed on its own merit without any taint of politics or reduction in my right of due process, I will present all necessary documents and answer in full all questions to belie his untruthful allegations," a statement from Arroyo said.

Sworn To Secrecy Too

The senators had no better luck with officials from UnionBank and BPI Family Bank who were summoned to the hearing. They declined to give details about Arroyo’s purported Jose Pidal accounts with them, citing the bank secrecy law.

"We spell a difference to our client. It is violative of (the bank secrecy law) to disclose under the parameter of the law or reveal the accounts of any of our bank’s clients. It will expose ourselves to ten-year imprisonment," said Fe Macalino, chief of UnionBank’s legal department.

Nimfa Fabular, manager of BPI Family Bank’s main branch, confirmed that an account under the name Jose Pidal was opened at their branch in 1997 and closed in 2000. She, however, could not give transaction details.

Under the general banking law, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is allowed to examine bank records to ensure compliance with banking regulations but it is prohibited by the bank secrecy law from looking into private accounts.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council is only allowed to scrutinize accounts if they are suspected of being used in kidnapping, hijacking and drug trafficking.

Since the alleged owner of the Jose Pidal accounts has stepped forward and could answer questions on the accounts, the BSP or the AMLC need not be involved in the scandal, a banking official said.

Even if the BSP and the AMLC supposedly had the authority to look into the accounts, only Arroyo has the right to divulge account details.

"(Ignacio Arroyo) could choose to waive his rights to bank secrecy if he wants to," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Once the AMLC has concluded its investigation on an account and established there was evidence of banking law violations, only then could it file charges before a court, according to BSP Governor Rafael Buenaventura.

"At this point, the case becomes a matter of public record but not a moment too soon," he explained.

The political opposition has alleged that the First Gentleman’s alleged bank accounts were being used to launder election campaign contributions for the President.

President Arroyo has rejected the allegations. Her aides have alleged the opposition was conducting a witch-hunt to pull down her popularity ahead of next year’s election.

Mrs. Arroyo accuses the camp of deposed President Joseph Estrada of trying to destabilize her administration.

Estrada was replaced by then vice president Gloria Arroyo after he was ousted by a military-backed popular uprising in 2001. Estrada is currently on trial for plunder and other corruption charges.

A group of active and retired military and police officials who played a key role in Estrada’s ouster has denied rumors that several military generals were withdrawing support for Mrs. Arroyo.

In a resolution issued yesterday, the Association of General and Flag Officers declared its support for Mrs. Arroyo and called for an end to the Senate inquiry, which they said was being exploited by "unscrupulous politicians and groups."

While the Senate inquiry was going on, about 50 leftist activists from a group called the Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice staged a peaceful protest near the Senate accusing the First Gentleman of hiding illegal funds.

They held their protest in front of the Manila Film Center when they were stopped by about 50 police officers from marching right up to the Senate just a block away. They staged a 50-minute protest and left. — With Nikko Dizon, Jose Rodel Clapano, Des Ferriols, Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan, AFP