What Went Before: Corona wealth

Former chief justice Renato C. Corona. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—CHIEF Justice Renato Corona was impeached on Dec. 12, 2011, and was removed from office on May 29, 2012, for failing to disclose P180 million—$2.4 million (around P100 million) in foreign exchange deposits and P80 million in “commingled funds”—in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

On Aug. 30, 2012, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed a P150-million tax evasion complaint in the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Corona, his daughter Maria Carla and her husband, Constantino Castillo III.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said that Corona had a net worth of P161.15 million from a declared income of P26.45 million.

During the impeachment trial, Henares testified that Carla had “very minimal income” and was “not capable of buying properties.” The Corona camp said that Carla was married to a doctor who had the means to buy the property.

In a resolution dated April 26, 2013, the DOJ said it had recommended the filing in the Court of Tax Appeals of a P120-million tax-evasion charge against Corona, which allegedly stemmed from his undeclared cash and properties in six annual SALNs.

According to the BIR, Corona’s real net worth increased from P12.87 million in 2003 to P53.72 million in 2010, although he earned between P1.4 million and P4.4 million every year during the period.

Corona maintained that there was no underdeclaration of real properties or any substantial increase in his cash assets, mainly because other people’s funds were “commingled” with that of his own. He added that the BIR had failed to take into account that he came from a “family with means and resources” and had been “gainfully employed from the public and private sectors.”

Source: Inquirer Archives

RELATED STORY

Corona, wife slapped with P130 M forfeiture case