Only Corona can redeem self from Ombudsman Morales’ testimony

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Only Chief Justice Renato Corona can “redeem” himself from a “damaging” testimony of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales involving the multi-million peso bank accounts that he allegedly owns, Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said on Wednesday.

“Maraming sinasabi si Ombudsman na talagang it was really, really damaging,” Estrada told reporters.

“It’s up to the Chief Justice to redeem himself…It’s only the Chief Justice who can save himself,” he added.

In her testimony, the Ombudsman claimed that Corona had 82 dollar accounts and more than $12 million “fresh deposits” that never moved based on the report that was provided to her by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

But Estrada said it was possible that there were multiple entries that would explain the 82 account numbers all in the name of the Chief Justice.

“Pwedeng may double entry, triple entry,” he said.

“I hope, I’m correct. Pag may time deposit ka for example P10,000, ang maturity nun ay three months. Pag ni-roll mo, iba na yung account number noon so maari talagang umabot ng 82 [If you have a time deposit for example of P10,000, the maturity is three months. If you roll it, the account number becomes different so it’s possible that the accounts reach 82],” Estrada said.