I will fight to my last breath - Corona

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona dug in yesterday for a protracted battle as details of his bank accounts began to trickle out in the Senate impeachment court.

“They can take my body, but not my soul,” Corona stressed when he gave the go-signal to his lawyers to file with the Supreme Court (SC) last Wednesday a motion seeking to stop his impeachment trial.

Defense counsel Ramon Esguerra told The STAR Corona is determined to fight until his last breath.

“Kahit patayin ninyo ako, lalabanan ko kayo, hanggang sa huling hininga (Even if you kill me, I will fight you, until my last breath),” Esguerra quoted Corona as saying.

Defense panel spokesman Tranquil Salvador III said the Chief Justice is taking the developments “well, under the circumstances.”

Asked about Corona’s morale after the opening of his peso bank accounts, another defense lawyer, Jose Bodegon, said Corona is doing okay.

“It (bank accounts) can be explained,” Bodegon said.

As the impeachment trial heads into its fourth week, Corona vowed that the fight would continue amid the various witnesses and evidence presented against him by the prosecution on issues about his statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs).

The impeachment trial went into a critical stage this week when the Senate issued a subpoena to bank officials to bring to court Corona’s alleged bank accounts.

The defense panel has been objecting to the presentation of Corona’s bank statements, saying it was beyond the scope of Article 2 of the impeachment complaint that accused Corona of failing to disclose his SALN.

Esguerra said this last development prompted the defense lawyers to seek redress from the SC where they filed a motion for TRO.

He said that Corona had vowed not to resign.

Esguerra said Corona would fight this case since his family and friends support him.

He said the defense team remains steadfast that they will continue protecting the rights of their client within the impeachment court and under the courts of law.

Esguerra said the defense panel is ready to reconcile the bank accounts revealed in the last two hearings.

He hinted that the alleged peso accounts containing millions of pesos could be reconciled with the sales of two of his properties in 2009.

Esguerra said that the public should not forget Mrs. Corona also got a P34-million check from expropriations of their family corporation, Basa Guidote Enterprises Inc. as early as 2001.

He added that the amount in Basa Guidote “could have grown by reason of the interest to a higher sum.”

Esguerra explained they will have time to contradict all the prosecution’s claims when their turn to present witnesses and evidence comes.

A scrutiny of Corona’s SALN as of Dec. 31, 2010 reflected that Corona sold two parcels of land in Quezon City to pay the loans for condominium units number 4 and 5, which were listed in his assets.

But also in 2010 SALN, Corona listed his “cash and investments” at merely P3.5 million, which were beyond what was revealed in the ending balances of some of his peso accounts in PSBank for that year.

Corona’s total net worth for 2010 is pegged at P22,938,980, which was much higher compared to 2009 where his net worth was reported at P14,559,080.

Esguerra, however, admitted that the emerging public opinion is going against Corona. But the defense is ready to present evidence that will disprove the prosecution’s claims.

Corona supporters stage rally

Thousands of supporters of Corona that included court employees trooped to the SC yesterday.

Carrying placards calling for “Rule of Law!” and “Stop the Impeachment!” the demonstrators expressed opposition to Malacañang’s tacit support of Corona’s impeachment.

They called on President Aquino to instead address the worsening economy of the country and other more important social concerns.

“The people’s money they spend in the impeachment trial should have been given to the poor instead. This impeachment is just a waste because as what we can see, it appears that the allegations against Corona have no basis,” said Romy Santillan, one of the protesters.

Some protesters were holding a black and white photograph of Aquino wearing a Nazi uniform.

Most participants, reportedly members of a religious group, assembled in front of the SC building at 11 a.m.

Inspector Tomasito Corpuz of the Manila Police District Station 5 estimated that at least 8,000 joined the rally for Corona.

It was, however, unclear as to what group the protesters belong since none of them admitted being part of any organization.

“We have an intelligence report that this crowd came from (religious group),” Corpuz revealed.

Minutes before the special full-court session of the justices on his petition seeking to stop his trial, Corona stepped onto the balcony of the SC building with his wife Cristina and waved to the crowd. He then threw a flying kiss and shed tears.

At one point, Corona raised his hands to the sky before going back inside.

Corona’s supporters were later allowed to enter the SC grounds to watch the live streaming of the impeachment trial.

Meanwhile, Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, chairman of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries, warned the people on the serious repercussions on the country’s banking system if the proceedings of the impeachment trial of Corona on his reported bank accounts would go out of control.

Apostol was commenting on the move of some senators, including Sen. Sergio Osmeña, to summon other bank officials, particularly those from MetroBank.

Pascual Garcia III, president of Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), was summoned to the Senate impeachment court regarding Corona’s reported peso and dollar accounts. PSBank is a subsidiary of MetroBank.

Apostol expressed alarm that the senator-judges were already summoning more individuals in what he said was a simple case of determining whether such accounts exist.

“Where is the trial going now? It seems this particular issue of digging up bank accounts is already getting out of hand. We’re not just talking of possible closure of a bank where people lose jobs or a bank run where depositors are harmed, but confidence in the integrity of the country’s banking and financial system,” Apostol said.

He noted that the development comes as investors have become more cautious in where to put their money and the Philippines is not yet considered as financially stable. With Edu Punay, Paolo Romero