HAS MEANS TO BUY PROPERTIES
MANILA, FEBRUARY 4, 2012
(ABS--CBN) by Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNnews.com - Enrile asks if Corona
committed an impeachable offense;
Cuevas says law allows Corona to correct his SALNs;
Prosecution: Corona betrayed public trust with wrong SALNs
DID CORONA COMMIT A HIGH CRIME?
The question of what are impeachable offenses surfaced on day 11 of the
Corona impeachment trial, as prosecutors continued to present proof on Article 2
or the chief justice's alleged failure to disclose his true wealth in his
statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).
A debate on whether Corona can be impeached for filing questionable
SALNs ensued after Senator-judge Ralph Recto asked one of the registrars of
deeds the meaning of the different items in the SALN.
He asked if the fair market value, zonal valuation and deeds of sale should
all be disclosed in the SALN. The fair market value is the price by which 2
parties decide on, while zonal value is fixed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue
for purposes of taxation. The price in the deed of sale, meanwhile, follows
closely the zonal valuation.
All parties agreed that all these should be included in the SALN.
Recto also noted there is room for corrective measures. A person who has
omitted unintentionally some details may correct his or her SALN. If found it
was unintentional on his part, he is not liable under the laws.
Prosecutor Elpidio Barzaga said omission, or leaving some items blank in the
SALN, falls under the crime of perjury.
"According to the Supreme Court, if there has been omission or not a faithful
or true declaration of the properties, the filer will be liable for perjury
because statements as far as the SALN is concerned is made under oath," he said.
Is perjury a high crime?
Enrile then posed the question: "If it is a crime, is it a high crime?"
"No, your honor. It is not a high crime," Barzaga replied.
Enrile then said: "All right, you read the Constitution. Culpable violation
of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high
crimes could be the basis for impeachment. So that's the law."
Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, head of Corona's defense team, said the
Chief Justice is not liable for any discrepancies in his SALNs.
"If there may have been discrepancies, inaccuracies, or incompleteness, these
can me remedied after a review of the SALN has been made. If it is not
intentional, no criminal liability or any administrative liability is incurred
by the filing official," he said.
Other senator-judges also stood up and reminded the prosecutors about what is
provided in the Constitution.
Joker: Evidence must amount to impeachable offense
"Not every offense, omission is an impeachable offense," said Senator Joker
Arroyo. "So the responsibility of the prosecution is to present evidence that
would amount to an impeachable offense, and the defense must defuse it."
Arroyo noted that United States President Bill Clinton was impeached, but
senators acquitted him because they did not believe that the accusations lodged
against him were impeachable offenses.
"We might be wasting our time discussing crimes that are not impeachable,"
Senator-Judge Francis Escudero said.
Arroyo added, "What we're overlooking here, we should check if offenses have
reached level of impeachable offenses."
Escudero agreed, saying: "Assuming he's seen on television jaywalking, is it
already an impeachable offense? Pag nakita syang nagbigay ng lagay para
mapabilis ang kaso, is it already an impeachable offense."
He noted that in the United States, there is a "range" for a particular
offense.
Prosecution: Corona betrayed public trust
Prosecution panel chief Rep. Niel Tupas explained that their complaint says
Corona's failure to truthfully disclose his SALN is a betrayal of public trust
He cited an opinion of Fr. Joaquin Bernas, one of the authors of the 1987
Constitution.
Bernas has explained some issues regarding what the Constitution says about
impeachable offenses.
"The offenses for which an officer may be convicted on impeachment are
'culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption,
other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust,'" he said in his blog.
"The word 'other' modifying 'high crimes' indicates that every offense in the
list must be a 'high crime.' This meaning is dictated by the principle of legal
construction that the word 'other' makes the meaning of all those enumerated of
the same level of gravity. In legal gobbledygook this is the eiusdem generis
rule," he added.
Enrile has ordered the 2 parties to submit a legal memorandum on the issue.
After the trial, prosecution panel spokesman Rep. Sonny Angara said the
framers of the 1987 Constitution added betrayal of public trust as an
impeachable offense due to the high crimes committed by the Marcoses.
"Pinakamahalaga po diyan, iyung pagtaksil at pagkalulo sa tiwala ng publiko o
betrayal of public trust, kasi nga malawak po iyan kaya nga yan ang intension ng
ating may akda ng ating Saligang Batas na talagang panagutin po ang mga
makasalanang opisyal," he said.
Tamano explains betrayal of public trust
ANC's resident legal analyst, lawyer Adel Tamano, explained that betrayal of
public trust is also a ground for impeachment introduced in the 1987
Constitution.
"What are the grounds for impeachment? Under Article XI, Section 2 of the
Constitution, there are 6: 1 - culpable violation of the Constitution; 2 -
treason; 3 - bribery; 4 - graft and corruption, 5 - other high crimes, 6 -
betrayal of public trust."
"You might ask what is high crimes. The easiest way to understand it is that
these are crimes of such gravity. For example, murder, it is so serious that is
is so obvious that an impeachable official should be removed from public office.
The impeachable act is so grave that it constitutes a high crime," Tamano
explained.
"Fr. Joaquin Bernas, when he talks about betrayal of public trust in his
book, he says betrayal of public trust is a catch-all provision, and even acts
that are not necessarily criminal can be a betrayal of public trust," he said.
"But if you take a look at the Constitutional records, it is very clear that
not every act is a betrayal of public trust," he added.
Tamano said any impeachable act has to be of such magnitude that it impacts
on the moral fitness of the official, leaving no other recourse but to remove
the official by impeachment.
Recto asks: Was there intent to deceive?
In an interview with ANC after day 11 of the trial, Senator-judge Ralph Recto
said they will look into the "timeliness" of Corona's declaration of 5
properties.
"Should we fault him for declaring them in 2010 kung nakaligtaan in the
previous years? I don't know, but we will look into that later on."
Recto said that while Corona declared 5 properties in his SALNs, some
declarations were "late in many instances."
He added that the Senate impeachment court also needs to review the
valuations of the declared properties.
"Dapat ilalagay mo iyung value. Iyung assessed, iyung market value, and the
third will be the transaction value," he said. "Iyun ang maliwanag sa batas,
tatlo eh. Kung 2 out of 3, ano ang ibig sabihin niyan?"
"Kung 1 out of 3, kung transaction cost lang ang inilagay niya, may
misdeclaration din ba iyon dahil di niya na-fill up iyung acquisition?" he
added. "The current fair market value, that's another issue."
Recto said he will grill Corona's lawyers when they present their own
evidence in the impeachment court.
"I will confront them as well with many parts of the law," he said.
"Katulad niyan iyung accounting. Iyan ba may deceit on the part of the Chief
Justice?" he asked.
"Halimbawa na hindi pa nata-transfer sa iyo iyung ownership of the property
pero iyung accounting practice, dapat, may nilagay ka na roon na advance
payments o di kaya may liabilities ka pa for installments," he added.
"Was there a willful intent on the part of the Chief Justice to reduce his
net worth and not to disclose his properties? I think that these are valid
issues that we should ask the defense also later on," Recto said.
Corona didn't break law, says defense lawyer
A lawyer Corona's defense team admitted on Tuesday that there were
"inaccuracies" in the Chief Justice's SALN when he belatedly declared several
real estate properties years after they were acquired.
Esguerra said Corona broke no law when he disclosed ownership of the real
estate properties belatedly in his SALN.
Under Republic Act 6713, government workers are given the opportunity to
correct their SALNs.
Meantime, House prosecution spokesman Lorenzo Tañada III feels Corona may be
preparing to do an "I am sorry" speech regarding his SALNs.
He said Corona may be preparing to explain the discrepancies in his SALN by
saying "I am sorry, lapse of judgment" similar to then-President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo's speech, apologizing for talking to a poll commissioner during
the 2004 polls.
Tañada said many officials have been dismissed from service for not
accurately declaring their SALNs. -- with reports from RG
Cruz, ABS-CBN News
Corona has means to buy properties: lawyer
ABS-CBNnews.com Posted at 02/02/2012 1:30 PM | Updated as of
02/02/2012 11:41 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The defense team of Chief Justice Renato Corona
on Thursday said the Corona family has the means to buy properties.
Atty. Dennis Manalo, one of the defense lawyers, said Basa Guidote
Enterprises, which is owned by the family of Corona's wife, has been leasing out
properties since 1961.
He said the corporation even received P34 million from the Manila City
government for taking its private property for public use.
He also stressed that even if the corporation's franchise has been revoked,
it can still transact business and give a cash advance to the Chief Justice.
"That business has been operating since 1961...They own a lot of properties
in Manila na pinapaupahan nila. This corporation was in receipt of a P34 million
expropriation from the city of Manila so the point is may pera ang pamilya ng
mga Corona and Mrs. Corona has that money," he said in an ANC Headstart
interview.
"They may not be flaunting their money because they're not supposed to do
that....but right now they're being pushed against the wall, they have to show
who their family is and what they have," he added.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said Corona could not have received an P11 million
cash advance from Basa Guidote Enterprises because its certificate of
registration was revoked that same year.
"Our theory is that there could not have been any transaction made by
Basa-Guidote with Chief Justice Renato Corona because … the corporate franchise
had already been dissolved or revoked and therefore, the only action that can be
taken by Basa-Guidote (was) just to liquidate and wind up the affairs of the
corporation and distribute the shares," Rep. Reynaldo Umali said.
Corona declared the P11 million cash advance as a liability in his SALNs for
2003 and 2004. Subsequent SALNs showed the liability decreasing.
Lawyer Vicky Aveña of the University of the Philippines College of Law said
that when the corporation's license was revoked, it was no longer allowed to
operate as a real estate business.
"When the license was revoked, bawal na siya magpatuloy sa ganung negosyo.
Bawal na siyang magparenta ng building at magbenta ng lupa," she said.
She also said Rep. Elpidio Barzaga had pointed out the corporation could not
issue a cash advance since there was no longer a board of directors when the
license was revoked. "It's not just 1 person making a decision. Without a
resolution, how could the corporation issue a cash advance?"
Aveña said Wednesday's impeachment hearing bogged down after Senate President
Juan Ponce Enrile questioned the testimony of Securities and Exchange Commission
director Benito Cataran that Basa-Guidote lost its "corporate existence" by
virtue of the revocation.
Enrile said only the stockholders and the government through the power of a
quo warranto proceeding can kill a corporation. He later ordered Cataran to
submit a legal memorandum explaining the SEC's authority to dissolve a
corporation.
Truth must come out
Aveña, meanwhile, warned that the impeachment body is now being set up so
that the truth will not come out. She said one way of making sure of this is to
make the prosecution panel look inept.
"Kung iisa-isahin natin, mula't sapul mayroong tendency ang impeachment body
na i-design na in such a way na ayaw lumabas ang katotohanan. Ngayon ang sa
akin, kasama na sa disenyo na yan na pagmukhaing inept at di magaling ang
prosecution. Ipagpalagay na bata sila, oo nga Meron ding marunong sa kanila pero
nalulusatan sila. Hindi sila perpekto pero yan ay na -exacerbate, pinagmukhang
grabeng-grabe, bilang bahagi ng disenyo para i-condition ag utak ng tao para
kung mayroon ngang lumabas na resulta dito ay dahil sa di pagiging preparado at
di pagiging magaling ng prosekusyon," she said.
"What is important here is the truth must come out. Mag-ingat tayo na laging
sinasabi na ang prosecution ay di magaling, Ang totoo lang magaling sila. Ang
totoo lang pinipigilan sila. Yung SALN, kahit walang kaso public document yan e.
Ke may kaso o wala, dapat pwede mo inspeksyunin dahil public document. So in
other words, whether or not they prosecution is good, that should be the basis,"
she added. With reports from ANC and radio dzMM
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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