Corona appeal on tax cases junked

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has denied for lack of merit the motion to quash filed by former chief justice Renato Corona on the 12 counts of tax evasion case lodged against him.

A copy of the resolution has yet to be released, but information posted on the CTA website said Corona’s arraignment will be on Sept. 15.

Prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) had found probable cause to charge Corona with violation of sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code for allegedly failing to pay taxes amounting to P120.5 million.

The cases were based on the complaint filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which accused the former magistrate of committing tax evasion for failure to file his income tax returns for 2003 to 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Associate Justice Juanito Castañeda, presiding justice of the CTA’s Second Division, inhibited from the case in July following the motion to inhibit filed by Corona.

No reason was stated on why the justice inhibited.

However, records from the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) showed that Corona voted for Castañeda for one of the two vacant posts in the Supreme Court in 2011.

The former chief justice was ex-officio chairman of the JBC.