Senate asks PS Bank official to bring original copies of Corona bank documents

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate, acting as the impeachment court on Wednesday, requested the witness from Philippine Savings Bank (PS Bank) to bring the original copies of the bank records of accounts owned by chief Justice Renato Corona.

The request came after Annabelle Tiongson, branch manager of PS Bank Katipunan, Quezon City reiterated that the photocopies attached by the prosecution team in its request for a subpoena for Corona’s bank records were “fake”.

Senator Franklin Drilon also asked Tiongson to bring specimen signatures and identify the bank officers who approved the opening of Corona’s accounts with numbers 089121020122 and 089121021681 which were opened March 4, 2010 and Sept. 1, 2010, respectively. The second bank account had an initial deposit of roughly P7 million.

PS Bank’s legal counsel initially refused the request, saying that by bringing the documents in question, they would be violating the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court barring the impeachment court from issuing a subpoena for Corona’s five foreign currency accounts.

However, Drilon reiterated that the Senate would uphold the SC’s TRO and would not ask about the foreign accounts. He added that the witness may cover the document which would show details about the foreign currency deposits.

Tiongson said that the original records have been pulled out of their office and forwarded to their head office under the order of PS Bank President Pascual Garcia and that their bank president would be a more competent source of the document.

However, Drilon slammed Tiongson’s manifestation saying that it was a “lame excuse”.

Nevertheless, Senator Enrile pacified the situation saying that Garcia will also take the witness stand and that Drilon can personally ask the bank president to present the requested documents.

Enrile explained to Tiongson that the original documents need to be presented so that the senator-judges may have a clear appraisal of the “differences” that Tiongson claimed to have seen with the photocopy presented by the prosecution.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada asked Tiongson if the documents were indeed faithful reproductions of the original bank documents.

“They are not the same. It’s fake,” Tiongson said referring to the photocopied document presented by the prosecution. She added that the “fake” document adhered to the general format of PS Bank forms however, she noted that she some differences in the entries.

Estrada then asked how the photocopies could be fake since Garcia, also speaking under oath, had confirmed the existence of the account numbers indicated in the document.

Tiongson said that the account numbers may have come from other sources like when a client writes his or her account number behind cheques or when banks tellers do so.

However, Estrada said he was not convinced and stated his belief that the document presented by the prosecution was indeed a “faithful reproduction of the original.”

Meanwhile, Senator Franklin Drilon asked how Tiongson was able to say that the photocopied document was a fake.

The witness said that she compared the document with the original bank copies and noticed some differences.

When asked for the specific differences, Tiongson said: “There were entries in the original that were not in the photocopy and there were entries in the photocopy that were not on the original.”

However, she said that the faking of the document did not happen in their branch. Tiongson added that she only became the branch manager of the PS Bank Katipunan Branch in 2010.

Corona’s accounts were in 2008 and 2009.

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate, acting as the impeachment court on Wednesday, requested the witness from Philippine Savings Bank (PS Bank) to bring the original copies of the bank records of accounts owned by chief Justice Renato Corona.

The request came after Annabelle Tiongson, branch manager of PS Bank Katipunan, Quezon City reiterated that the photocopies attached by the prosecution team in its request for a subpoena for Corona’s bank records were “fake”.

Senator Franklin Drilon also asked Tiongson to bring specimen signatures and identify the bank officers who approved the opening of Corona’s accounts with numbers 089121020122 and 089121021681 which were opened March 4, 2010 and Sept. 1, 2010, respectively. The second bank account had an initial deposit of roughly P7 million.

PS Bank’s legal counsel initially refused the request, saying that by bringing the documents in question, they would be violating the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court barring the impeachment court from issuing a subpoena for Corona’s five foreign currency accounts.

However, Drilon reiterated that the Senate would uphold the SC’s TRO and would not ask about the foreign accounts. He added that the witness may cover the document which would show details about the foreign currency deposits.

Tiongson said that the original records have been pulled out of their office and forwarded to their head office under the order of PS Bank President Pascual Garcia and that their bank president would be a more competent source of the document.

However, Drilon slammed Tiongson’s manifestation saying that it was a “lame excuse”.

Nevertheless, Senator Enrile pacified the situation saying that Garcia will also take the witness stand and that Drilon can personally ask the bank president to present the requested documents.

Enrile explained to Tiongson that the original documents need to be presented so that the senator-judges may have a clear appraisal of the “differences” that Tiongson claimed to have seen with the photocopy presented by the prosecution.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada asked Tiongson if the documents were indeed faithful reproductions of the original bank documents.

“They are not the same. It’s fake,” Tiongson said referring to the photocopied document presented by the prosecution. She added that the “fake” document adhered to the general format of PS Bank forms however, she noted that she some differences in the entries.

Estrada then asked how the photocopies could be fake since Garcia, also speaking under oath, had confirmed the existence of the account numbers indicated in the document.

Tiongson said that the account numbers may have come from other sources like when a client writes his or her account number behind cheques or when banks tellers do so.

However, Estrada said he was not convinced and stated his belief that the document presented by the prosecution was indeed a “faithful reproduction of the original.”

Meanwhile, Senator Franklin Drilon asked how Tiongson was able to say that the photocopied document was a fake.

The witness said that she compared the document with the original bank copies and noticed some differences.

When asked for the specific differences, Tiongson said: “There were entries in the original that were not in the photocopy and there were entries in the photocopy that were not on the original.”

However, she said that the faking of the document did not happen in their branch. Tiongson added that she only became the branch manager of the PS Bank Katipunan Branch in 2010.

Corona’s accounts were in 2008 and 2009.