Ana Basa: We will get back what is rightfully ours

HONOLULU—Guilty or not in the impeachment trial, Chief Justice Renato Corona, along with his wife, Cristina, and daughter Carla, will have to pay for their “illegal takeover” of the Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI) from its stockholders and for “squandering” its finances.

Thus said an heir of the corporation’s majority stockholders, Ana Basa.

“We will not let this go away. We will get back what is rightfully ours,” declared Basa, the second of nine children of Jose Maria Basa III, one of the original stockholders of BGEI. Ana  called up this reporter, who is on an East-West Center fellowship grant, from Las Vegas, Nevada, where she has been in the casino business for over 20 years, to talk about the Basa family’s course of action against the Coronas in light of revelations about the company in the Corona impeachment trial.

Basa said the Coronas probably did not expect the Basa family and their relatives to unite and shoot back considering the Chief Justice’s position in the judiciary following their “long years of persecution and prosecution.

The US-based Basa family has been meeting with their lawyers in the United States and in the Philippines about their course of action against the Coronas to challenge in court the “illegal” transfer of BGEI ownership to her niece Carla for a measly sum of P28,000, as well as the sale of a BGEI property worth millions of pesos to Carla for also the measly sum of P28,000 through an auction.

Ana said her family was relieved by the fact that the truth about Corona and Cristina, who is Ana’s cousin, had finally come out.

‘All liable’

According to Ana, their lawyers said all three Coronas, as well as the regional trial judge and the sheriff that executed the auction of her family’s majority shares in the corporation were all liable under the law.

During the impeachment trial, court Sheriff  Bisnar testified under oath that he delivered both the writ of execution and garnishment of the Basa shares on the same day at an address given to him by Cristina, which was actually the address of the latter.

“That address was Asuncion’s address. Bahay naman nila Cristina iyon (Cristina also stayed in that house). She grew up there. Hindi namin bahay iyon (That is not our house),” Ana said.

“My parents never received any type of notice. My dad would have never allowed BGEI shares to be auctioned off because that was his promise to his mother. He would have figured out another way to pay it. Remember the court issue of writ of execution and garnishment eight months after my dad passed away.”

Ana believed they now have a fighting chance to pursue their cases in court against the Coronas “without obstruction and harassment,” unlike before when Renato enjoyed the confidence of two former presidents—Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“We were told by the lawyers that they are all liable to the stockholders, especially Cristina, for gross negligence and bad faith in directing the affairs of BGEI for allowing the shares to go for a mere P28,000. They said she is also guilty of acquiring personal or pecuniary interest in conflict with her duty as a trustee,” Basa said.

‘Highly questionable’

She said the sale itself of the BGEI property in Sampaloc was highly questionable since up to now, there was still no decision in the probate case, which Cristina herself filed against them.

She said other BGEI properties in the same area, which were levied by the Coronas, were actually in the name of her father, Jose Maria III, up to now, that was why the Coronas could not sell it.

Ana expressed the belief that her cousin could have not done all of the abuses and manipulations “without the backing of the Chief Justice.”

This, she said, was precisely the reason why her aunts and uncle decided to sell their shares to her father, the most successful businessman among the five children of Rosario Basa. Sister Concepcion and Sister Flory lived in the convents, Asuncion was a housewife, while Mario Basa had a bonzai business and supplied bonzai at the Atrium in Makati.

“Dad’s siblings said they did not want headaches because magulo si Cristina (Cristina was troublesome), tenants were complaining, so they decided to go sell their shares and Dad bought them because Lola’s wish was for the Basa family to continue to own and  control the  corporation that’s why our family became the majority stockholders,” Ana said.

‘A gift to Dad’

Ana also addressed the claim of Corona’s defense lawyers that her father removed Asuncion’s name from the title of a property in Libis (Eastwood), Quezon City.

“What title is she talking about? That property in Libis was a gift by my lola to Dad when he graduated with a degree in animal husbandry from the University of California in Davis. But that property in Libis, binayaran din ng Dad sa Lola over the years kaya nakapangalan lang sa kaniya (But Dad paid Lola for that property in Libis over the years, that’s why it is in his name). Dad was able to pay because we had a farm, we had poultry, piggery and he was very successful. My dad was an amazing man, you would have liked him,” she said.

On the Chief  Justice’s reported multiple dollar accounts as revealed by the Ombudsman and the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Basa said they were just as shocked as the rest of the country upon learning this.

“The defense is simply doing damage control by deflecting the focus away from Rene Corona, They’ve blamed black propaganda, the President, Carpio, Ombdusman, etc.,” she added.