Chief Justice Renato Corona underdeclared a P3.4-million Burgundy Plaza unit in Quezon City and failed to declare a parking slot valued at P450,000 in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), the prosecution on Thursday told the Senate impeachment court.
Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada elicited these details from private prosecutor Clarence Jandoc after nearly two hours of testimony by Gregg Gregonia, Burgundy Plaza Realty Corp. vice president, on the purchase of the unit and the parking slot by Corona and his wife Cristina.
“After one hour and 45 minutes of deliberating this particular issue, what are you trying to prove here? Are you trying to prove that the Chief Justice failed to disclose this particular property in his SALN?” Estrada said after the prosecution and defense finished questioning Gregonia.
Seizing the opportunity, Jandoc told the court that Corona declared P921,080 as the price of the condominium unit but did not disclose the parking slot in his 2003 SALN.
The Corona couple bought Unit 21-D of Burgundy in 1997 separate from the parking slot. The unit and the parking slot had different titles, Jandoc said.
“It was stated here (2003 SALN), but I doubt very much the fair market value. I think the Chief Justice disclosed this particular property in the SALN, but I don’t want to make assumptions here. But according to you he undervalued the price, am I correct?” Estrada asked Jandoc.
Jandoc said: “Yes, it was underdeclared, only pertaining to condominium unit 21-D. There was never any declaration as to the separate property, which is the parking slot.”
The private prosecutor said the Constitution, in relation to Republic Act No. 6713, requires public officers to disclose their SALNs.
“I (put) emphasis on the net worth because one can’t make a declaration of a net worth unless one makes a narration of assets and liabilities. In this case, the reservation agreement … indicated that the contract price was P3,208,800 and that there was a downpayment made,” he said.
“This was done in 1997 and as confirmed by the Chief Justice in his SALN in 2003, he indicated he acquired this property in 1997. Therefore, it’s incumbent on the Chief Justice to indicate as part of his assets the total contract price of these properties, but he has to indicate his remaining balance under the column liabilities so in his net worth how much money came out of his pocket will be reflected,” he added.
Jandoc, however, acknowledged that there was no “hard-and-fast rule” on the inclusion of one’s acquisition of a parking slot in one’s SALN.
Mere opinions
Commenting on Jandoc’s statements, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, however, said these were mere “opinions.”
Until that time, Gregonia merely confirmed that he brought documents pertaining to the Coronas’ acquisition of the unit and parking slot, including the couple’s reservation agreement with Burgundy Plaza, buyers’ ledger, contract to sell, deed of absolute sale, and receipts of installment payments from Corona and his son Francis.
Jandoc earlier said that Gregonia’s testimony would prove that Corona failed to declare his acquisition of the unit in his SALNs from 1997 to 2002, but truthfully declared this in his SALNs from 2003 to 2010. The executive of the realty firm also showed that Corona failed to declare his acquisition of the parking slot in his SALNs from 1997 to 2010, according to the private prosecutor.
Under cross-examination by the chief defense counsel, Serafin Cuevas, Gregonia said he appeared before the court to bring the subpoenaed documents and not in relation to Corona’s SALNs.
Gregonia said that he and the prosecution never talked about Corona’s SALN.
“We didn’t talk about the SALN,” Gregonia said when asked by Cuevas if the prosecutor’s claim that he appeared in the trial to testify on the alleged untruthful facts in Corona’s SALN. He, however, said that being questioned on the matter had crossed his mind.
Installment payments
Gregonia substituted for the Burgundy Plaza Realty Corp. president, Rogelio Serafica, who was subpoenaed by the court but reportedly took flight.
The company instead authorized Gregonia to bring the documents subpoenaed and to testify on them.
In his testimony, Gregonia presented documents showing that Corona made installment payments for the unit and the parking slot, and confirmed their authenticity.
Gregonia said he saw for the first time the documents years ago, for the second time when Burgundy received the subpoena for Serafica and for the third time Thursday during the trial.
The presentation and confirmation of the documents took so long that the crowd started to stream out of the session hall. At one point, some of the senators were seen sharing a laugh.
Toward the end, Senator Joker Arroyo cautioned private prosecutors against making arguments, pointing out that their job was limited to conducting an examination.