Impeachment document missing

MANILA, Philippines - A document showing that Cristina Corona borrowed the land titles from the buyer of her Marikina property was reported missing by the lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile directed private prosecutor Jose Justiniano to look for the documents, noting “this has an ethical implication.”

At the start of Day 29 of the impeachment trial, lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas said that one of the documents marked for the defense was not returned to witness Demetrio Vicente.

Cuevas was referring to the “handwritten letter of Mrs. Corona acknowledging the receipt by way of borrowing the different certificate of title,” pertaining to the titles of seven parcels of land.

“They were borrowed by the prosecution lawyer Attorney Justiniano. After the trial, yesterday’s (Tuesday) proceeding, the document has been missing and it was not returned,” Cuevas said.

He manifested that a talk with Justiniano yielded negative results and brought the matter to the attention of the impeachment court.

Justiniano, on the other hand, said he recalled having borrowed the batch of documents “but I didn’t notice that receipt. There was a batch of documents that I turned over.”