‘Corona got P10-M discount’

PENTHOUSE VISTA A view from the corridor leading to the 303-square-meter Unit 38B of The Bellagio Tower I at Bonifacio Global City owned by Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. Photo taken on Jan. 5, 2012. ERNIE SARMIENTO

Should Chief Justice Renato Corona be removed from office for receiving a P10-million discount in the purchase of a “defective” condominium unit?

The question on Monday surfaced after the prosecution alleged that Corona got such a price reduction, purportedly representing 40 percent off the original amount, when he and his wife Cristina bought a penthouse unit at The Bellagio in Taguig City on Dec. 16, 2009.

But prosecution witness Giovanni Ng, finance director of property developer Megaworld Corp., admitted that the unit had “technical and finishing issues,” which partly explained why it pitched the unit at a lower amount.

The witness said the prevailing global financial crisis, which affected real estate, was also a factor at the time of the purchase.

The prosecution presented the witness on Day 8 of the impeachment trial on Article 2—that Corona failed to declare his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN)—in an apparent effort to show purported irregularities in the purchase of Unit 38B at The Bellagio, and a separate property at McKinley Hill subdivision, also in Taguig City.

“We were informed by the witness that Chief Justice Renato Corona received a 40-percent discount from Megaworld Corp. equivalent to about P10 million and we believe, your honor, this is highly material because it goes into the valuation of the property in the SALN,” said private prosecutor Joseph Perez.

In a posttrial interview, defense lawyers pointed out that the P10-million discount was stated by Perez—not by Ng—and protested that  prosecution spokespersons were using the private prosecutor’s statement to malign Corona and to suggest that it had something to do with unspecified Megaworld court cases.

“We will make it clear that that has not been asked (during the trial),” said defense lawyer Tranquil Salvador III. “But since it’s already being talked about outside, this is what I will suggest, open the decisions, look into the decisions of the Chief Justice.”

“It’s very easy to do that,” Salvador said. “Go to the Supreme Court portal and look for Megaworld.”

Where’s connection?

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III appeared incredulous that the prosecution was attaching the alleged discount to Corona’s alleged failure to publicly disclose his SALNs.

“Failure to disclose?” he asked.

“Failure to disclose and failure to truthfully disclose,” Perez replied, eliciting laughs from the gallery. “Because as we all know, a SALN is not just a piece of paper. It must be under oath.”

Perez added that besides Article 2, the prosecution was also using the purported condominium discount in connection with Article 3. It alleges that Corona failed “to meet and observe the stringent standards … that (a) member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.”

In the articles of impeachment, this particular charge was made in connection with “issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases.”

“We believe that a person with integrity and probity, especially a high public official, would not accept a P10-million discount from a developer, which might well be having pending litigation,” Perez said, again triggering reactions from the gallery.

Ng produced the deed of absolute sale, contract to buy and sell, and three official receipts pertaining to the 303.5-square-meter Bellagio unit, which was bought for P14.5 million.

He also presented the deed of sale, request for reservation and offer to purchase, buyer’s information sheet and a total of 27 official receipts regarding the property at Lot 1, Block 16 of the McKinley Hill project. It was sold to Corona’s daughter Charina, the father acting as her attorney in fact.

Discount due to defects

The discount supposedly given to Corona for the Bellagio purchase piqued the curiosity of Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.

Estrada was told by Ng that a 15-percent discount was normally given for a “shorter term payment.” The witness said the discount could also be as much as 20 percent. In the case of the Bellagio unit, purported “defects” contributed to the lower purchase price.

“It actually had technical and finishing issues at that time, that they (Megaworld marketing department) had actually determined that it would be to the best interest of selling or marketing (because) they would have to rectify the unit, to do some reworks on the unit,” Ng said.

“They did, however, say that fortunately, they were able to find the client, in this case, that would be the spouses and that rather than going through a costly rectification of the unit, they just decided to factor in this cost and lower the price accordingly.”

Asked by Estrada if a unit with “defects” would have a bigger discount, Ng replied: “It depends on the actual amount that you need to rectify in a unit. It would vary from unit to unit.”

Marketing question

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the trial’s presiding officer, allowed Ng to answer questions on several occasions despite the limitations of his position.

But Enrile made it clear that on discounts and purchase prices, Megaworld’s marketing director—not Ng who is finance director—should be called to testify.

“This witness was presented by you to testify on documents on actual transactions already, but you are going far beyond and you are dealing with the question of bargaining and I don’t think he was involved in the bargaining,” Enrile told Perez, before issuing an order to subpoena the marketing official involved.

On the McKinley property, the prosecution sought to show that it was Corona—not his daughter Charina—who was the real owner, a position seemingly debunked in the defense’ cross-examination.

Ng admitted during direct examination that all 27 receipts pertaining to the property were all under the name of Corona, the daughter’s designated representative. The property is 203 square meters and was purchased for P6,196,575.

Perez said: “It was actually Renato Corona who acquired the property because the buyer indicated in this buyer’s information sheet is Renato C. Corona and, in fact, under this buyer’s information sheet, the deed of absolute sale was requested to be in the name of spouses Renato and Cristina Corona.”

Daughter abroad

The lead defense counsel, Serafin Cuevas, objected to the statement, saying the prosecutor was already making a conclusion. Enrile sustained the objection and ordered that the statement be stricken off the record.

In his cross-examination, Cuevas pointed out that Corona was designated attorney in fact “because Charina Corona was abroad for several years prior to this transaction.”

Ng provided an explanation on why Charina’s name was not in any of the official receipts.

“Hypothetically… sometimes you would see that the name in the official receipts would be… (that) of (the) original buyer and some of them would be in the name of an assignee,” he said.

On the Bellagio property, Cuevas made Ng admit that the finance director wouldn’t know if the unit was “habitable or improved” or in its “skeletal form” because he had not personally visited it.

“So, how about the reasonableness of the amount that your company charged to the buyer, did you examine the condition of the unit with the amount paid? I suppose not… that’s not part of your function. That’s part of the marketing department,” the defense counsel said. With a report from Michael Lim Ubac