Corona denies raps; hits Aquino, Morales

Chief Justice Renato Corona. SENATE POOL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Drama, walkout and confusion overshadowed Tuesday Chief Justice Renato Corona’s admission that he had dollar and peso bank accounts but did not declare these deposits in his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).

Corona showed defiance, directly blaming President Benigno Aquino III for his fate and accusing Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales of lying about his 82 dollar bank accounts in his over three-hour testimony at the Senate acting as an impeachment court.

At the start of his opening statement, Corona repeatedly said that his conscience was clear and that he did nothing wrong and did not steal from the government coffers.

“What did I do wrong? I don’t recall committing any wrongdoing and that’s the reason I can still raise my head up without fear or anxiety because I’m very sure I did not commit any sin and have not stolen from the government coffers,”

“My conscience is clear and I’m declaring this to the Filipino people,” he said.

He said all his properties were hard-earned and that not a single centavo came from the government.

Corona zero in on Aquino, whom he described as “Hacienderong Pangulo (landlord president), as conspiring to remove him from office.

He cited three reasons he was facing the impeachment proceedings in the Senate.

First, Corona said, Aquino was after him because the Supreme Court has ruled against Hacienda Luisita, which is owned by the family of the President’s mother and the late President Corazon Aquino.

Second, Corona said, the President wanted to have control over all branches of government– the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.

And third, Corona revealed an alleged attempt by the left to take over the country even pointing to Ronald Llamas, who used to be part of the Akbayan party but is now with Malacañang after he was appointed presidential adviser on political affairs.

Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile interrupted Corona several times and requested to go directly to his point.

“We are waiting for your purpose…” Enrile said but still allowed Corona to proceed.

Corona then started explaining each accusation hurled against him.

Simple life

Contrary to the prosecution team’s previous claim that he had 45 properties, the Chief Justice said he has only five properties and his family was living a simple life.

He said his family decided to invest in foreign exchange, instead of buying properties, citing the bad experience of the family of his wife, Cristina, who he said had been fighting over money and lands.

He also denied that he failed to truthfully disclose the real costs of his properties in his statement of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Corona said he declared only the assessed value of his properties in his SALN because the documents that would show how much he bought his properties were already opened to the public when he registered them in the register of deeds.

He did not also declare the fair market value of the properties because he said that would mean he had to call an appraiser every year to determine the current value of his properties.

Only 4 banks

And on the Ombudsman’s allegations that he had $10 to $12 million dollar accounts in 82 banks, Corona admitted only four in four banks and three peso bank accounts.

Corona said most of the accounts mentioned by the Ombudsman were either closed or placed in settlements.

As of December 2011, he said he has only four dollar bank accounts – one in Bank of the Philippine Island (BP1) in San Francisco del Monte in Quezon City, one in Allied Bank and two in Philippine Savings Bank.

But Corona said the four dollar accounts did not contain either $10 million to $12 million as alleged by the Ombudsman. He did not say, however, the total balance of the four dollar accounts.

“There are only four, not 82,” Corona said

Corona also admitted having three peso bank accounts which he did not also declare in his SALN because he said it was a “co-mingled” fund from the proceeds of the sale of the Basa-Guidote Enterprise Inc (BGEI), which is owned by the family of his wife.

Waiver

Corona pulled a surprise when he suddenly signed a waiver right before the Senate to allow the of all his dollar and peso accounts on condition that Senator Franklin Drilon and 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment case against him would issue the same waiver.

: “I hereby waived my right…under Republic Act 1405 as amended and authorized  all banking institutions to disclose  to the public any  and all bank documents pertaining to all peso and foreign currency accounts,” he said, reading his waiver.

He also authorized the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Land Reistration  Authority to disclose  to public any all information that “may show his assets, liabilities, net worth, business interest and financial connections.”

But Corona  said he would only  submit his waiver to the Senate if Drilon and the 188 congressmen would sign the same waiver.

Walkout

He then concluded his opening statement and immediately stood up  and went outside the chamber.

Corona’s move caught the senators and even his defense lawyers by surprise.

Enrile immediately ordered Corona to return to the witness stand as he repeatedly banged the gavel.

Cuevas immediately apologized to the Senate for what he described as “seeming disrespect to this honorable court.”

There’s no intention whatsoever…in fact, he’s taking his medicines and attending to his personal necessity,” he said.

But Cuevas’ remarks received a loud boo from the crowd in the gallery.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have been patient. I warned you, if you’re going to continue to be disorderly, I will ask the Sergeant At Arms to escort all of you out of this session hall,” Enrile told the people in the gallery.

The session suspended for more than an hour and when it resumed , a wheelchair-bound Corona greeted the senators and the crowd in the session hall.

Cuevas informed the Senate that his client could no longer testify because the latter was suffering from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar.)

“You place the Chief Justice on the witness stand, we allowed d him to narrate his defense . If he does not want to be cross-examined , you know the consequences of that. We will order the striking out of all his statement from the record and we will decide the case based on the evidence based on record. So it’s your plate,” an angry Enrile said.

“I wanted to assure the court that there’s no such plan your honor,” Cuevas said.

“I didn’t realize that he was already suffering from pain, chest and difficulty in breathing, dizziness. In fact, a couple of minutes before these things actually took place he was already taking medicines,” he said.

Cuevas apologized and asked for understanding and requested to allow Corona to continue with his testimony when his condition gets better.

At that moment, he said Corona was not “physically able” and mentally suited” to undergo direct or cross examinations.

Enrile issues warning

But Enrile said the Senate would only give Corona until on Wednesday to continue his statement.

“We will give him, to be considerate to him, will give him until tomorrow (Wednesday) to return. Then if he will not return for cross examination, we will consider this case submitted for resolution,” he said.

No senator objected to Enrile’s decision and Cuevas promised to abide by it.