Money for Makati condo should’ve been part of Corona SALN, senators say

MANILA, Philippines – The money that was used to buy a condominium unit in Makati City by the wife of Chief Justice Renato Corona should have been reflected in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) even if the turnover of the unit was delayed, two senators said during Tuesday’s resumption of the impeachment trial.

Corona’s defense team said the P3.5 million unit in “The Columns” on Ayala Avenue was bought in 2004 but was only received by Corona’s wife, Cristina, in August 2009. The property was declared a year after (2010) in the Chief Justice’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

But Senator Serge Osmeña III said the money used to buy the condo should have been reflected as an asset in the SALN of the Chief Justice in 2003 and 2004.

“We don’t really care if the condo is existent or not. It has to be booked in 2003 and 2004 as an asset. And if the unit had not been delivered, it should have been booked maybe as an account receivable from Ayala,” Osmeña said.

If “the unit was never delivered even in 2010, the P3.5 million should still have appeared in his [Corona] asset’s side,” he said.

“Obviously, there was P3.5 million taken out of the assets side of the SALN of the Chief Justice and given and paid to Ayala land. Ano po yugn nagayri dun [What happened to that]? Hindi naman nag-appear ng 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and all of a sudden, it appears as a condo in 2010. The condo is irrelevant the value must appear,” Osmena stressed.

Senate President and presiding officer Juan Ponce-Enrile shared the same view.

“As far this chair is concerned, the asset originally was P3.5 million that was transformed into a concrete known as a condo but still from the beginning of time of this contractual relationship, there was an asset – only that it passes from cash to concrete thing known as a condo unit,” Enrile said.

“The condo unit came into existence when it was actually constructed but all along there was an asset that must be reflected in one’s SALN, whether it’s in the form of a condo, with the number placed opposite it or a currency account with the number placed alongside with it.”

“The consideration for a condo was an asset that ought to be reflected in the SALN of the buyer. So whether we talk of pesos or centavos or unit, there was an asset from the very beginning,” Enrile added.

Corona’s camp was trying to justify the non-inclusion of the property in the SALN of the Chief Justice prior to 2010.

Corona’s alleged failure to disclose his SALN to the public is one of the charges in the impeachment complaint filed against him.