Coronas won’t be summoned: ruling
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 00:00
THE Senate impeachment court yesterday denied a motion to subpoena Chief Justice Renato Corona and several members of his family to testify and bring documents in the ongoing trial of the chief magistrate. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, sitting as presiding officer, rendered his ruling to deny the motion to subpoena Corona, his wife Cristina, daughter Carla Corona-Castillo and husband Constatino Castillo III, Francisco Corona and Charina Corona "for lack of merit." House prosecution team leader Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. requested for reconsideration but eventually submitted to the ruling after Enrile explained the decision.
"This court resolved to deny the request. The primary purpose of the request is to require him to testify for the prosecution. This cannot be done without violating the constitutional right of the respondent. Section 17, Article 3 of the 1987 Constitution provides no person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself," reads the ruling read by Court Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes. Under impeachment court rules, Corona is not required to attend and testify in the impeachment proceedings. Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano agreed not to compel Corona to testify but opposed the inclusion of his wife and children in the ruling denying the motion of the prosecutors. Cayetano argued that Corona's wife and children can be subpoenaed to testify and bring documents pertaining to the alleged ill-gotten wealth being questioned by the prosecution.
With Cayetano's opposition, Enrile decided to divide the house which eventually sustained the presiding officer's ruling via a 14-6 vote. The prosecution team of the House of Representatives will be presenting the chief of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the keepers of personnel records at Malacanang, Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Supreme Court (SC) as its first set of witnesses at the continuation of the impeachment trial. The panel has also asked the impeachment court to subpoena the head of the state-owned John Hay Management Corp. (JHMC) and six private individuals connected with property development, for the trial scheduled today and Thursday. In a six-page request, the House prosecutors requested the impeachment tribunal to summon BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares, the personnel officers of the Office of the President (OP), OVP, and SC Clerk of Court Atty. Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal.
The subjects of the request are being called to testify on documents showing that Corona has acquired unexplained wealth since he joined government in 1992 as assistant executive secretary during the time of former President Fidel Ramos until his appointment as the country's chief magistrate in 2010 by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. The prosecution team wanted the Senate to order Henares to present the original and certified true copies of the income tax returns (ITRs) and other tax records of Corona and his wife Cristina from 1992 to 2010.
Prosecutors likewise sought the ITR and tax records from 2000 to 2010 of his daughter Carla and son-in-law Constantino Castillo III, and from 2005 to 2010 of son Francis and daughter-in-law Charina. On the other hand, the personnel officers of Malacanang and the OVP are being required to bring with them the original and certified true copies of Corona's Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth from 1992 to 2002, when he was appointed to the Supreme Court as associate justice. From 1998 to 2001, Corona served as chief of staff of Mrs. Arroyo when she was vice president during the administration of the then President Joseph Estrada. According to his SALNs, Corona was worth P14.9 million when he joined the Ramos administration in 1992 and was worth P1 million less when he left the executive branch under the Arroyo administration to join the High Tribunal in 2002.
Despite his relatively stable net worth, however, House prosecutors said Corona was able to acquire several Real Estate properties in Metro Manila amounting to more than P200 million, "which is grossly disproportionate to his income as magistrate of the highest court in the Land." Among these properties are the pricey condominium units at the Bellagio Tower and Bonifacio Ridge in Taguig City, The Columns in Makati City, Burgundy Plaza in Quezon City, and a house and lot in La Vista Subdivision, also in Quezon City.
Records showed that Corona bought the Bellagio property at P14.5 million in 2009. The 303.5-square meter unit, with three parking slots each measuring 12.5 square meters, is said to be worth between P30 million and P40 million now. The prosecution has already asked the impeachment court to summon Giovanni Ng, finance director of Megaworld Corp., the developer of the Bellagio property and the McKinley Hill at The Fort, Taguig City, where a property registered in the name of Corona's daughter-in-law is located. Also asked to be subpoenaed were Aniceto Bisnar Jr. and Lourdes Reyes of the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., which developed Bonifacio Ridge; Grace Evangeline Manankil Sta. Ana and Nerissa Josef of Community Innovations for the unit in The Columns; Roger Serafica of Burgundy Realty Corp.; and Dr. Jaime Eloise Agbayani, president and CEO of JHMC.
Agbayani is being asked to bring the SALNs of Corona's wife, who served as the JHMC chief during the Macapagal- Arroyo administration. The Supreme Court yesterday deferred making a decision on the five petitions seeking to stop the Senate impeachment trial against Corona. SC spokesman and Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the SC en banc decided to order the parties involved in the case to submit their respective comments on the petitions to stop Corona's impeachment trial within 10 days. The SC also required comments from the Court of Appeals (CA), Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) and other groups regarding the release of Corona's statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth. The five petitions were consolidated into one petition by the SC and the case was assigned to Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. Corona inhibited himself from the case. PNA
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