Prosecution may ask LTO chief Torres to testify in Corona impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines—The prosecution team on Wednesday said it plans to ask Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres to testify on the vehicles owned by Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, which it alleged Corona did not declare in his statements of assets, liabilities and networth, or SALNs.

Marikina representative Romero Quimbo said in a press briefing that it seemed “very unlikely” that Corona had no vehicles. This would also be a part of the issue on his non-declaration of assets in his SALNs.

Corona’s 2002 SALN showed an entry under “personal and other properties” that stated “motor vehicles” with an acquisition cost listed as “P1,130,000” and were acquired for “various years.”

However, this entry, according to the prosecution, did not appear in all the subsequent SALNs from 2003 to 2010.

Aurora representative Juan Edgardo Angara said in an interview that they had already filed a request to subpoena Torres and documents from the LTO.

“We will study if we would require her (Torres) to testify or if only the LTO registration documents are sufficient,” he said.