Prosecution not surprised by LRA exec testimony

MANILA, Philippines—The testimony of Land Registration Authority administrator Eulalio Diaz III on Tuesday held no surprises for the prosecution panel, its spokesmen said.

They told reporters during Day 32 of the impeachment trial on Chief Justice Renato Corona that they were not worried over the testimony of Diaz, who told the court that several land titles included on the list of 45 properties allegedly owned by the chief magistrate had been cancelled.

Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara said that they admitted what Diaz presented to the impeachment court, pointing out that lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. had earlier said that based on subsequent events, the Corona’s properties were not 45 as earlier reported.

Another spokesperson for the team, Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tanada III defended their inclusion of the list to their request for subpoena, maintaining that they “did not mislead” the court since they did not present as evidence those which had been cancelled.

Quimbo supported this, saying that it was in “good faith” that they received the list of the properties from the LRA and attached it to their request for subpoena.

The prosecution also “did not present titles not needed in our case,” Tanada stated, explaining that they looked into the chain of title or the sequence of ownerships of the properties at the time to check which had been sold and which were still under Corona’s name.

Back then, Article 2.4 had not yet been excluded from the proceedings, he added.