Prosecution to search for more Corona properties

MANILA, Philippines - Prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona will search for more properties he and his wife may own in his home province of Batangas and other parts of the country.

They made the decision after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is presiding over Corona’s impeachment trial, raised the possibility on Wednesday that the Chief Justice owns real estate in Batangas.

Enrile questioned why Land Registration Authority (LRA) Administrator Eulalio Diaz III, whom prosecutors had asked for a list of properties owned by Corona and his family, had limited his search to Metro Manila.

Lead prosecutor Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo told reporters yesterday that if they find other Corona properties, they would present them as evidence in the trial if the opportunity arises.

“If the defense touches on them in their presentation, then we can present a rebuttal. If not, then we will be content with what we have presented to the impeachment court – the 21 properties. We are very confident with our evidence,” he said. 

He said he got the impression that Diaz conducted a nationwide computer search of real estate assets the Coronas own when the LRA chief sent him a list of Corona properties.

“If he misled us, it was because the search was limited to Metro Manila. When we made the request, we thought they had a central computer system covering all their offices throughout the country,” he said.       

Tupas added that no one in the prosecution panel thought of expanding the property search outside Metro Manila when Diaz sent him the list of Corona properties in four cities in the metropolis.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said if they find other Corona assets, they could send documents relating to such properties to senator-judges for their information.

“Remember that the impeachment trial is largely a political process. They might take judicial notice of such properties, if there are. That’s possible,” he said.

The 45 Metro Manila properties listed by Diaz have gone down to 21, which include pieces of real estate in the names of the Corona children and their son-in-law Constantino Castillo III and which the prosecution claims really belong to the Chief Justice and his wife.

The defense insists that of the 21, only five belong to Corona and his wife as the titles are in their names. The titles of the 16 other properties are in the names of other people, defense lawyers said.

For prosecution spokesman Rep. Miro Quimbo of Marikina, the number of properties Corona owns is not material.

“What is material and relevant is his nondisclosure and concealment of his assets. It takes only one undeclared property like a condo unit for us to establish betrayal of public trust, an impeachable offense. Meaning, one form of falsity is enough to convict him,” he said.

He said the prosecution has clearly shown that Corona did not declare at least three condominium units in Global City, Taguig and Makati in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for the years during which they were acquired.

“He also did not declare P31 million in bank deposits, aside from an undetermined amount of dollars in five accounts with Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank),” he stressed.

Defense lawyers said they would prove that Corona only has five real estate assets, as he declared in his 2010 SALN. These included a condo unit at The Columns along Ayala Avenue in Makati, which is an Ayala Land project. The unit was acquired in late 2004 for P3.6 million.

The defense tried to justify why Corona reported the Ayala Avenue penthouse unit only in his 2010 SALN by introducing a witness who testified that the Coronas fully paid for their condo in October 2004, but they had complaints about it and accepted it only on Aug. 12, 2009.

The prosecution and several senator-judges, including Enrile, said the Chief Justice should have declared the Ayala condo in 2004. 

Angara said Corona failed to disclose two more condo units in his SALN for the years during which they were acquired.

“They bought a unit at Bonifacio Ridge in Global City, Taguig in 2005 for more than P9 million and a 303-square meter penthouse in Bellagio Tower One also in Global City in 2009 for P14.5 million, but these were declared only in the 2010 SALN,” he said.

“The Chief Justice did not disclose his condos, and when he finally reported them, he undervalued them because he could not justify his acquisition with his salary and his allowances,” he said.

Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada described the Coronas’ three Global City and Makati condo units as the “magical properties.”

“They were acquired years earlier but they magically appeared in CJ Corona’s SALN only in 2010. These, together with his undeclared peso and dollar bank deposits, are the ones at issue in his trial, not the 45 properties that have been linked to him and his family by the LRA,” he said.

He said Corona “continues to hide his dollar deposits despite his promises to open them up for scrutiny by the prosecution and the impeachment court.”

“But even if he turns his back on his word, it is clear that he owns an undetermined amount of dollars in five accounts with PSBank as testified to by bank president Pascual Garcia III,” he added.