Umali insists 'small lady' is source of documents

MANILA, Philippines - Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rey Umali insisted yesterday that a “small lady” and not a “little girl” handed him a brown envelope that contained the controversial bank records of Chief Justice Renato Corona, which was the basis of a subpoena issued by the Senate impeachment court.

Umali told reporters during the weekly Annabel’s news forum in Quezon City that the title “little girl” has already been associated with a certain personality, which he declined to name.

Detained former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo was often referred to by her critics as the “little girl.”

Umali said he believed that the “small lady” who handed him the controversial documents could be the same source of the document that was brought by his colleague Rep. Jorge “Bolet” Banal to the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) branch for verification.

“Maybe the small lady was dissatisfied that Rep. Banal did not do anything so she decided to give it to me,” he said.

PSBank Katipunan branch manager Annabel Tiongson revealed during questioning by Sen. Loren Legarda that Banal approached her in January and asked for help in verifying certain details of a dollar bank account in the name of Renato Corona.

Banal, who is a member of the prosecution team, voluntarily appeared before the impeachment court last Thursday and confirmed Tiongson’s revelation.

He said he wanted to verify some details of the documents, which he claimed was left at the gate of his home in Quezon City.

Umali theorized that since Banal was too “meek” and did not inform them of the existing documents, the “small lady” decided to hand the document to “a big macho man” who is willing to give it to the prosecution panel.

“Small lady made the right move,” he said with a smile.