Court upholds Coronas’ claim to Sampaloc lot

Cristina Roco-Corona: Upheld by appellate court. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld its earlier decision affirming the claim of the family of the wife of former Chief Justice Renato Corona as the rightful owner of a controversial property in Manila.

In a June 4 ruling by Associate Justice Francisco Acosa, the court denied the motion for reconsideration sought by Corona’s cousins Cecilia Henson-Basa, Jose Ma. Basa III and Betsy Tenchavez dated Nov. 26 last year questioning its Oct. 31 decision.

“A careful scrutiny of the parties’ arguments yield no new matter that would warrant that modification, much less the reversal, of the decision sought to be reconsidered. The material arguments had been amply passed upon in the subject decision and there is no need to belabor the same,” the court said.

In its Oct. 31, 2013, ruling, the appelate court upheld a Manila regional trial court order for the reconveyance of the property in Sampaloc, Manila, now the Sampaloc Market, to Basa Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI), a corporation owned by the family of Cristina Roco-Corona, wife of the former chief justice.

The appeals court also dismissed the Basas’ claim that Cristina had no legal personality to initiate the reconveyance suit for the 1,020-square-meter lot on Legarda Street on behalf of her late mother, Asuncion Basa Roco, saying that Corona’s wife had been duly appointed by her mother.

The Sampaloc property was mentioned during Corona’s impeachment trial in 2012. Corona then said that he did not include peso deposits in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) because the money was for BGEI.

Corona was removed from office in 2012 after the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, convicted him of not declaring his true income in his SALN.–Christine O. Avendano