‘Pattern of lies’ aimed at destroying Corona—defense

MANILA, Philippines – There is an apparent “pattern of lies” aimed at destroying the reputation of Chief Justice Renato Corona, defense lawyers said Wednesday.

Tranquil Salvador told reporters that the pattern could be seen in the way and methods that various documents were obtained and presented.

“Pero ang katotohanan nito, ano man ang sabihin, may nagsinungaling [But the truth is, whatever it is, someone is telling a lie],” Salvador said. “At ang kagustuhan kaya may nagsinugnaling ay para masira ang isang tao [And the reason for the lie is to destroy a person].”

Rico Paolo Quicho said that the presumption of regularity that the prosecution claimed regarding documentary evidence from government agencies was tarnished.

He cited the previous case when the Land Registration Authority (LRA) provided a list of 45 properties allegedly under the name of Renato Corona to the prosecution at the onset of the impeachment trial.

The number of properties in the list was later reduced after the LRA testified that it was just compiled using a “keyword search” in the database of the LRA and some of the properties were already cancelled or transferred to different owners.

“How can we say there was a presumption of regularity when [the prosecution] did not even verify [the list]?” Quicho said. “From there, there was already negligence. That will already break the presumption [of regularity].”

He added that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales testified on the bank transaction records, allegedly in the name of Corona, that was provided by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) without verifying the contents.

“In this case with the Ombudsman, we think very highly of her that she will always do what is right. But in this case of Chief Justice Renato Corona that she is holding, she dropped the ball,” Quicho said.

“She did not verify, she did not authenticate, she judged Chief Justice Corona without clear and strong evidence,” he said.

Quicho said a document was not automatically correct just because it came from a government agency. It should have been verified and authenticated first before making a judgement on a case.

“We clearly see that government machineries are really conspiring against the Chief Justice,” Quicho said.

Quicho was referring to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales’ testimony based on Corona’s bank transaction records as presented by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Morales testified that Corona has around $12 million in five banks and said that funds have been moved around “circuitously” in 82 accounts from 2003 to 2011.

Quicho also cited other agencies such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Commission on Audit (COA), and the Land Registration Authority (LRA).

Salvador said that their presentation would have been different had the complainants testified ahead of Ombudsman Morales. But they chose to abide by the order of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to present the Ombudsman first.

“We still believe that we did the right thing in calling the ombudsman to the witness stand,” Salvador said.