Pimentel to defense: Focus on condos, deposits

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III asked the camp of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday to concentrate his defense on his alleged undeclared condominium units and tens of millions in bank deposits.

“I think they should focus on assets which the prosecution claims were not declared in his SALN (statement of assets, liabilities and net worth),” Pimentel told ABS-CBN News Channel.

Pimentel said as a judge in Corona’s impeachment trial, he would like the defense to offer contrary evidence that would refute documents and testimonies presented by the prosecution showing he did not declare some of his assets.

“They have so far failed to do this, but I think they are going into that. They have started showing his cash inflow, maybe later, they will show the outflow to support his acquisition of those condos, but still they will have to tell the impeachment court if there were assets that were not declared or were hidden,” he said.

He was referring to testimonies presented by the defense showing that Corona earned roughly P26 million between 2002 and 2011.

Pimentel said the prosecution claims that the Chief Justice had 21 properties in his name as of 2010, while there were only five assets declared in his SALN.

“So what happened to the other properties? Where are those? I can forgive him if he did not declare parking lots but declared the principal asset because a parking lot is just an accessory. If he did not report a substantial asset, I think he did not merely forget declaring it. He hid it,” he said.

He said Corona’s camp should also explain the P31 million in cash the Chief Justice had in three bank accounts as of Dec. 31, 2010 as testified to by bank officers.

He added that he would like to hear answers as to why such huge amount of cash was not reflected in Corona’s 2010 SALN.

He noted that Corona declared having only P3.5 million in cash and investments for that year.

He said the defense, in presenting testimonies about Corona’s income and its sources, was apparently trying to prove that his properties were not ill gotten.

“Early in the trial, the impeachment court prohibited the prosecution from presenting evidence to prove the respondent’s alleged ill-gotten wealth. But the defense was told that if they feel the presumption under the law that the assets were illegally acquired kicks in, they can offer evidence that it’s not ill gotten. That is apparently what they tried to do,” he said.

He pointed out that even if Corona’s lawyers were able to prove that his assets were not acquired through questionable means, they would have to explain why some of them were not in his SALNs.

Based on the evidence presented by the prosecution, Corona and his wife bought two condominium units in 2004 and 2005 and the luxurious P14.5-million, 303-square meter Bellagio Tower 1 penthouse in Global City, Taguig in 2009, but these were declared only in Corona’s 2010 SALN.

Pimentel said he believes that the impeachment article dealing with Corona’s SALN and assets is the strongest of the three remaining impeachment charges against the Chief Justice.

He indicated that he would base his decision on whether to convict or acquit Corona largely on this particular accusation.

He said he would go through a “two-step decision-making process.”

“First, I would have to determine whether the accused committed the acts of omission alleged in the complaint. Did he conceal his assets? Second, if he indeed committed those acts, are those sufficient to remove him from office?” he said.

He added that unlike some of his colleagues, he would vote based solely on the evidence and he would not be influenced by what the public thinks of Corona.