Corona given ‘special discount’ for condo purchase, prosecution says

MANILA, Philippines – The prosecution team insisted on Tuesday that the Coronas had received “a discount given just specifically for [that] transaction and not to anybody else” regarding the purchase of the Bellagio penthouse that was originally priced at P24 million but was purchased by the Coronas for P14.5 million.

Marikina Representative Romero Quimbo said in a press briefing that the witness, Noli Hernandez, marketing head of Megaworld, was able to establish clearly that there was a “special discount” of at least P1 million.

Hernandez said in his testimony that this was on top of a P5 million price reduction due to storm damage and a 15 percent discount for the short term cash payment arrangement, which Quimbo said were “up to the senator-judges and the public to decide if those were acceptable explanations.”

Quezon Representative Lorenzo R.Tañada III said that Chief Justice Renato Corona should not have accepted any discount in order to maintain “impartiality or the appearance of impartiality” as stated in the code of judicial conduct.

Tanada said that Corona had the right to refuse the discount because he had chosen the profession of being a justice.

“The amount is immaterial. The fact is there was a reduction of price,” Tanada said.

Quimbo said that Cristina Corona “was actively negotiating based on the testimony [of Hernandez]… so if they were getting [the discount] it was part and parcel of the negotiation.”

“Obviously, [the discount] was accepted knowingly,” Quimbo said.

It was important for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court not to receive gifts of any kind so as not to diminish the trust of the people in the courts, Quimbo said.

“Once people lose trust in our judicial system, they will take the law into their own hands. That’s why [the code of judicial conduct is] there especially for judges,” Quimbo said.