Prosecution to focus only on properties of Corona, immediate kin

MANILA, Philippines—Prosecutors will take up only properties directly linked to impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona and his immediate family and will no longer present documents involving properties owned by the magistrate’s in-laws at the resumption of his impeachment trial, Representative Niel Tupas Jr. said Saturday.

The Iloilo congressman, chief of the 11-member prosecution panel from the House of Representatives, said they have decided to ignore the Transfer Certificates of Title in the names of Corona’s in-laws and other individuals in proving that the chief justice had more than just the five properties he has admitted owning.

Tupas said the Land Registration Authority listed 45 property titles when he asked it for a list of properties that could be traced to Corona and members of his family.

“The [list of] 45 properties came from the LRA and it included some in the name of his in-laws and we are no longer looking into all of them,” Tupas said. “What we’re presenting are properties that are really in the names of Corona and his children, and so far, we were able to present more than five already.”

Tupas said that the third day of the trial, which resulted in the public disclosure of Corona’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), was significant in laying the groundwork for evidence to be brought out on the fourth day of trial on Tuesday,  in connection with the charge of betrayal of public trust and graft and corruption.

So far, he said, the prosecution presented has presented evidence and testimonies proving there were more than five properties, that some properties declared were grossly undervalued in the SALNs compared to the deeds of sale, and some properties acquired from 2003 to 2008 appeared only in the 2010 SALN.

Next week, the prosecution will prove that Corona’s children had no means to pay for the properties and that Corona merely used them to conceal possibly ill-gotten wealth, Tupas said.

Last Thursday, acting Quezon City Registrar of Deeds Carlo Alcantara said the three properties under the name of Corona’s daughter, Carla, and husband Constantino Castillo III, were an P18-million property in La Vista sold by Erlinda Castro to Carla (TCT No. 004-2010007780 from TCT No. 88985); a P15-million property in Diliman sold by Myrla Nelad-Bajar to Constantino (TCT No. N-125683); and  a P10.5-million property in Cubao sold by Daniel G. Encia to Constantino (TCT No. RT-20758).

Tupas said the prosecution will show the Corona children’s legitimate sources of income.

At least 11 witnesses, including Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, will be presented by the prosecution next week, to prove Corona’s other properties.

“I think it will be an interesting week next week because there is new information that the public does not know yet about the properties and we will present it in the impeachment court. We are in possession of documents, of information, that we will present to the tribunal that the people still do not know,” Tupas said.

Marikina Representative Romero Quimbo said the prosecution was pleased that it prevailed in at least 80 percent of the rulings made by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, particularly when it came to the presentation of testimonies and evidence.

Quimbo said the prosecution presented evidence showing that Corona acquired real estate properties which he did not only declare in his SALN, but were also grossly disproportionate to his income during the 19 years he has been in the government.

“Necessarily, we have to look at how these purchases  were made when in fact we have been able to trace all his income and assets from 1992 to 2002,” Quimbo said.

“There is a potential interplay within the family about selling the properties that have not been declared in the SALN. We have evidence to show that the Corona couple sold properties for P18 million to the children. That’s clearly something that needs to be justified,” Quimbo said.

For his part, Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Neri Colmenares accused Corona’s lawyers of unwarranted use of the Rules of Court in order to delay the impeachment proceedings.

“What is supposed to be suppletory  has become the main rule, to the detriment of the peoples’ search for truth,” Colmenares said.

“The obsession of the defense panel on the rules of court, raising technical objections, that not only delays the proceedings but makes the ongoing impeachment impossible to understand, is now getting out of hand,” he said.

According to Colmenares, there is no provision in the law or the Constitution that requires the rules of court to be used impeachment proceedings.

He said the implication of using the rules of court in the impeachment proceedings would be the impeached official “will most likely escape accountability and get acquitted.”

Colmenares expressed fear the defense might undermine the impeachment court by raising some of Enrile’s rulings to the Supreme Court.

He cited as an example the defense lawyers’ accusation that Sen. Franklin Drilon was acting for the prosecution for getting the Supreme Court clerk of court admit she had Corona’s SALNs with her. The Senate then compelled to turn them over.

“Chief Justice Corona is actually setting us up to an appeal to the Supreme Court with a request for TRO on the ground that the senators are partial,” Colmenares said.

Quimbo and Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara, another spokesperson for the prosecution, claimed it was “obvious” that the defense was headed for the Supreme Court for possible intervention.