Defense asks Senate to bar documents on Corona bank accounts

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Monday asked the Senate impeachment court to prohibit the presentation of documents pertaining to Corona’s bank accounts as evidence against him, saying it was a violation of their client’s right to due process.

The defense panel also asked the Senate to remove from its records the documents submitted by the prosecution regarding Corona’s bank deposits in Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) because they were “fake” and obtained illegally.

The defense reiterated its position that the Senate should revoke its subpoena on Corona’s dollar accounts because the prosecution used spurious documents in its petition for the issuance of the subpoena.

“The fake documents cannot be the basis for the issuance of a subpoena to the banks,” the defense said in a memorandum.

“Without any reliable basis to stand on, the subpoena issued by the impeachment court is invalid and void,” it added.

Citing various rulings of the Supreme Court, Corona’s lawyers argued that evidence acquired through illicit means should be declared “inadmissible” by any court, including the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

The defense noted that PSBank president Pascual Garcia III and Annabelle Tiongson, manager of the bank’s branch on Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City, where Corona opened his dollar account, testified in open court that the copies of Corona’s alleged specimen signature cards, which the prosecution submitted to the Senate, were bogus.

Republic Act No. 6426, or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, states that documents covering foreign currency accounts may only be released only through a “written waiver of the depositor,” Corona’s lawyers said.

Invoking a person’s right against unreasonable searches and the principle of the “fruit of the poisonous tree,” Corona’s lawyers pointed out that the prosecution had moved to subpoena the Chief Justice’s bank accounts only after the “mysterious appearance” of Corona’s alleged dollar accounts.