Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Why only now?
Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza on Sunday said he was unfazed by the sudden release of a Commission on Audit (COA) report disallowing the city government’s payment of P34.7 million for the purchase of a property belonging to Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI), a company owned by the family of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s wife.
“If the motive isn’t obvious, I don’t know what is. I can only laugh,” Atienza told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview, noting that the COA order surfaced 11 years after the transaction and only after he testified for the defense in the impeachment trial last week.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who sits as a judge in the trial, said Corona was right in not declaring the P34.7 million representing payment for the BGEI property in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
In his testimony, Atienza said Corona’s wife, Cristina, received the payment from the city government “in trust” in behalf of BGEI.
“So it turns out that it is not (Corona’s) money. It’s not the money of his wife, but that of the company. So, it was only proper that he did not include it (in his SALN),” Santiago said in Filipino in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday.
The defense presented evidence on the P34.7-million payment partly to explain bank deposits in the name of the Corona couple but were not reflected in the SALNs of the Chief Justice.
Of the amount, an P11-million cash advance from BGEI was declared by Corona in his SALN. He later disclosed that he had settled the amount.
‘Harassment’
Describing the COA order as a form of “harassment and persecution,” Atienza said he would return as a defense witness upon the trial’s resumption on May 7.
“Obviously, it is meant to remind me, ‘Don’t testify on this case because you are going to be the collateral damage,’” he said. “But it doesn’t daunt me a bit. I will defend myself. I will continue telling the truth in the impeachment trial.”
The COA auditor for Manila issued a notice of disallowance on March 19, or three days before Atienza took the witness stand and testified on the city government’s purchase of BGEI’s 1,020.7 square-meter property in Sampaloc, Manila.
The notice was based on the notice of suspension that the city auditor’s office issued on March 5, 2002.
Documents
The new COA team said the payment was disallowed because the following documents had not been submitted:
Original copy of the deed of absolute sale approved and duly registered with the Registry of Deeds of Manila, or a court decision in case of eminent domain [expropriation].
Transfer certificate of title duly entered in favor of the city government.
Recommendations of the appraisal committee on the reasonableness of the price, duly authorized by the authorities concerned and noted by the previous owner.
Copy of the latest tax declaration transferred from the owner-vendor to the city government.
The COA team also found that irregularities had attended the transaction.
Irregularities
Cristina received the payment for the purchase of the lot but did not submit a notarized special power of attorney that BGEI recently issued. What she submitted was a certification, dated June 19, 1987 and issued by then BGEI corporate secretary Asuncion Basa, that named her the exclusive agent for a sale that took place on March 26, 2001.
The state auditors also noted that Cristina did not submit a board resolution supporting the board secretary’s certification and that she was not authorized to claim and deposit the check in her personal account as the exclusive agent.
The purchase price and the values prevailing at the time were significantly different. The adjusted market value of the 1,230-sq.m property from which the 1,020.7-sq.m lot was acquired was P13,122.30 per sq.m and the zonal value of the property was P21,000 per sq.m.
There was no resolution of the city council authorizing Atienza to enter into a contract of sale as required by the Local Government Code.
The city did not withhold from the payment the capital gains tax equivalent to 6 percent of the contract price. Neither was the value-added tax withheld.
Not overpriced
Atienza denied that the purchase of the BGEI property was overpriced.
He pointed out that the city government had sold a nearby property for the construction of the Light Rail Transit’s Legarda station at P155 million at nearly P50,000 per sq.m. In contrast, he said, the BGEI property was bought at P34,000 per sq.m.
Last week, Atienza told the impeachment court that the city government had to buy the property to accommodate stall owners displaced from the Sampaloc public market because of the LRT construction.
“The transaction happened 11 years ago. The money was paid to Basa-Guidote. It was received by Mrs. Corona in trust. What they’re doing now is they’re questioning the transaction, which has nothing to do with the impeachment,” he said.
In 2002, a year after the payment, Atienza said the city government received a notice of suspension from the local COA office. But he said auditors were “satisfied after we explained everything and submitted all the documents.”
Aboveboard
Atienza said the matter was no longer raised in audits of subsequent years until he stepped down in 2007.
“What was the logical presumption? They were satisfied with the fairness of the transaction, that it was aboveboard,” he said.
“And if there was still any problem with the transaction, why didn’t they also scrutinize it soon after I left. Mayor (Alfredo) Lim has been in office for five years,” he added.
Atienza was among the nine people listed by the new COA audit team that issued the notice of disallowance as liable for the transaction.
The others were Gloria Quilantang, former officer in charge (OIC) of the city’s accountant’s office; Alicia Moscaya, former city budget officer; Liberty Toledo, former city treasurer; Magdiwang Recato, former city engineer; Heidi Rosero, former OIC of the internal audit division; Emmanuel Sison, former secretary of the mayor; Melchor Monsod, former city legal officer; and Cristina Corona.
The COA team said any audit disallowance not appealed within six months form receipt would become final and executory.