Chief Justice Renato Corona. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – It was the “call” of Chief Justice Renato Corona to place Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on the witness stand to testify on his supposed $10 million in bank deposits, the defense panel said Tuesday.
Defense lawyer Jose Roy III said some of Corona’s counsels had opposed the Chief Justice’s decision to appear in his own impeachment trial in the Senate to face Morales and other individuals who accused him of keeping multimillion-dollar accounts.
“It was his call. Of course, we apprised him of the possible consequences. But he made the call,” Roy told the Inquirer.
“We wanted to know what the Ombudsman had. That’s the basis of the Chief Justice’s decision to pursue this line of strategy,” he said.
Roy said Corona also wanted to “avoid a situation wherein after (he’s) done here, they would pursue another (impeachment) case” on the basis of the purported dollar accounts. (See related story on Page A1.)
“If we don’t bring it here, they will destroy (Corona) in trial by publicity. Either way, there’s very little option as far as the Chief Justice is concerned,” he said.
$12M in 5 banks
In her testimony as an adverse witness of the defense in the Senate impeachment court, Morales said the Chief Justice had kept more than $12 million in five banks.
Despite the adverse public opinion generated by Morales’ explosive testimony, Roy said the defense panel was confident that Corona could adequately controvert the revelations made by the Ombudsman.
‘Lack of knowledge’
He also downplayed the significance of Morales’ testimony, saying her disclosure raised “more questions than answers.”
Since the Ombudsman disclosed that the information about Corona’s dollar accounts came from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Roy said Morales herself “laid the basis for her lack of knowledge.”
Said Roy: “She said she just received those documents (from the AMLC). That seems to attract attention than the more important issue of ‘Did you know what you’re doing? Did you understand what you’re doing? Did you verify?’ Those things were practically admitted (by Morales).”
“The Ombudsman practically admitted that she did not understand the report when she asked (Commission on Audit Commissioner) Heidi Mendoza to interpret it,” he added.
Mind-boggling amounts
Roy said the defense panel was surprised by the “mind-boggling” amounts which Corona had supposedly stashed in 82 bank accounts.
Asked if they were surprised that Morales was in possession of the AMLC documents, Roy replied: “We’re surprised only by the contents. They were rather very huge. It’s actually unbelievable.”
“But we’re not surprised about the extent with which the information or propaganda were generated. Remember that this case began without evidence. They’re taking a long boat trip fishing all over the Philippines.”
High spirits
Roy said Corona was “in very high spirits” when he met with his lawyers and discussed their assessment of Morales’ testimony for several hours Tuesday.
During the meeting, he said the Chief Justice reiterated his denial of his purported ownership of several dollar accounts.
“We told him that we should not be overwhelmed by its impact to the public because … what the Ombudsman presented was not credible. It is, in fact, incredible.”
Asked what the Chief Justice had told his lawyers, Roy said: “His instruction was for us to carry on. When we parted, he was in very high spirits.”