MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife bought a condominium unit and three parking slots at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City for P14.5 million in 2009, documents have revealed.
Prosecutors in his impeachment trial in the Senate said yesterday that they would find out whether Corona declared the acquisition in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, head of the 11-member prosecution panel of the House of Representatives, said the couple bought a 303.5-square meter unit at the Bellagio in December 2009 and were given four titles under their name in January 2010.
The unit is located at the 38th floor and the three parking slots measured 12.5 square meters, according to documents furnished to reporters.
“We are uncovering properties of the Chief Justice one by one. The question is, is this in the SALN of the Chief Justice?” Tupas said in press conference at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City.
“We are challenging him to bring out to the public his SALN,” he said.
Corona’s alleged failure to disclose his properties is the second of eight articles of impeachment filed against him by the House last Dec. 12.
Corona, however, in his reply to the charges before the Senate, said the acquisition was declared in his SALN.
The Supreme Court (SC) has an existing resolution on the non-disclosure of the justices’ SALNs to shield them from intimidation, harassment and information fishing expeditions.
Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo, a spokesman for the panel, said in the same news briefing the prosecution also wants to find out how Corona and his wife Cristina could have afforded the property from his salary as Chief Justice.
“We can scrutinize the SALN of the President. We have seen the SALN of former President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo. It’s only the Chief Justice’s SALN that we have not seen,” said Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, also a spokesman for the prosecution.
The chamber also appointed Pangasinan Rep. Marlyn Primicias Agabas, chair of the House committee on the revision of laws, as its 11th prosecutor to replace Quimbo, who will be full-time spokesman for the prosecution panel.
Earlier, Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III left the panel and was replaced by Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption Rep. Sherwin Tugna. Tañada was designated as spokesman for the panel.
Other members of the House prosecution team are: Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, Akbayan party-list Rep. Arlene Bag-ao, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, Deputy Speaker and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali, and Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, panel manager.
The prosecutors also met yesterday and finalized the assignments of the eight charges against Corona.
Daza, Colmenares and Tupas would prosecute the first charge of “partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration”; Tugna and Barzaga for the charge of “failure to disclose to the public his SALN”; Aggabao, Bag-ao, and Tugna for Corona’s alleged flip-flopping on cases; Bag-ao and Umali for the charge of alleged blatant disregard of the principle of separation of powers by issuing a status quo ante order against the House of Representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez; Barzaga and Primicias-Agabas for alleged “wanton arbitrariness and partiality in consistently disregarding the principle of res judicata” or resurrecting decided cases, and in deciding in favor of gerrymandering in the cases involving the 16 newly created cities, and the promotion of Dinagat Island into a province; Fariñas and Primicias-Agabas for the charge for creating a committee to clear a colleague in the SC; Colmenares and Daza for the charge of alleged partiality in granting a temporary restraining order in favor of Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel; and Umali and Aggabao for the charge of Corona’s alleged failure and refusal to account for the Judiciary Development Fund and Special Allowance for the Judiciary collections.
Palace to respect Senate independence
Meanwhile, Malacañang assured the Senate yesterday that it would respect the chamber’s independence in the forthcoming impeachment trial of Corona, so as not to give the public any impression that it was pressuring the senator-judges.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told a briefing at the Palace that Cabinet members would be keeping their distance from the senators, including allies in the ruling Liberal Party.
“Owing to the independence of the Senate and respecting the separate branch and to also allay the accusation that we are encroaching on all the branches of the government,” he said.
He said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and other Cabinet members have vowed to distance themselves from the Senate to avoid any accusation of partiality on the part of the senator-judges. This includes LP allies led by Sen. Frank Drilon.
“I would imagine, yes. Because we have to respect the independence of the senator,” Lacierda said.
“We respect the separation of branches here. The President has given us instructions to distance ourselves, especially from the Senate, because it’s going to act as the trial court here. We don’t want to be accused of intervening.
“We will be cooperating with the prosecutors of this case because they will need information from government. To the extent that we can provide those accurate and objective information that is needed, then we will not stand in the way of that,” he said.
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