January 3, 2001, Sun Star, Davide rules: Prosecution must prove ill-gotten wealth,

January 3, 2001, Sun Star, Davide rules: Prosecution must prove ill-gotten wealth,

MANILA -- Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., chairing President Estrada's corruption trial, upheld Tuesday a ruling that prosecutors had to prove enormous funds allegedly stashed in a secret bank account were ill-acquired.

Davide also rejected outright a prosecution motion for clarification of his Dec. 22 ruling on the issue.

Davide had ruled then that even though a senior bank officer testified she saw Estrada signing a P500-million trust account using a false name, prosecutors should prove that the money was acquired through false means.

This was necessary so the testimony of the witness, Clarissa Ocampo, senior vice president of Equitable-PCI Bank, would not be struck from the record, Davide ruled.

Prosecutors protested against the ruling, saying the law stated that assets of a public official that were grossly disproportionate to their income were automatically assumed to be ill gotten.

However, Davide rejected the argument. "The motion for clarification has been denied for lack of merit," he said Tuesday.

Davide clarified that ill-gotten wealth and properties being alleged by prosecution have not yet been proven to be factual, only presumptions. He said the property should be acquired during the official's incumbency and the amount of the property is not proportional to his salary or income from legitimately acquired property.

"How can anyone then claim," Davide asked "that the presumption under Section 2 of RA 1379 is proven, when Mrs. Clarissa Ocampo has not yet finished her testimony, and only the basis of the presumption has been presented by the prosecution?"

"It is the duty of the prosecution to go forward with the evidence," Davide stated. "The burden of proof never shifts."

Davide clarified that the prosecution has yet to file a motion for reconsideration regarding the burden of proof issue. "It must be stressed that when the presiding officer announced the ruling, none of the senator-judges took the floor to challenge the ruling. It is thus unfortunate that the senators took another forum (the newspaper) to challenge the ruling."

He stressed that grievances should be taken up with the court.

"To do otherwise would suggest bias and discredit the court. The court cannot afford to wait till Jan. 5 for the clarification (from the prosecution). The presiding officer now rules that the challenge against the motion to clarify ruling of the presiding officer (as Sen. Raul Roco was quoted in a newspaper) is not factual."

Davide's statement was in reaction to a news report from the Philippine Star last Dec. 24 that quoted Senator-Judge Roco as saying that Davide must have been "dizzy" when he said the burden of proof to link the P500-million account of Jose Velarde is on the shoulders of the prosecution.

Prosecutor Joker Arroyo said following the ruling that he would abide by the decision.

He stressed, however, that the prosecution would eventually prove the matter anyway. Ocampo has testified that Estrada repeatedly signed a false name on the trust account in front of her at Malacañang in February this year.

Prosecutors had told the Senate tribunal that Ocampo's testimony showed Estrada hid assets 14 times what he declared in his 1999 income tax returns.

This proved he was corrupt, they said.

Ocampo told the tribunal she had gone to the presidential palace on Feb. 4 last year to have Estrada sign documents covering the P500-million investment he was placing with the bank.

She said Estrada signed the signature cards for the trust account in the name of Jose Velarde. "I just couldn't believe it," she said. "He did not sign his real name so I decided not to authenticate his signature." (Sun.Star Cebu/AFP)