'EVIDENCE' / SENATE TO ACT ON $ ACCOUNTS
MANILA, FEBRUARY 14, 2012 (TRIBUNE) By Benjamin B. Pulta and Angie M.
Rosales - Annexes attached by the House prosecution panel in its request for a
subpoena by the Senate Court on the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) as
"evidence" against the head magistrate were admitted to be fake documents by the
bank's branch manager, who said the records presented by the prosecution to
obtain the subpoena of the dollar accounts alleged to be owned by Supreme Court
Chief Justice Renato Corona were not the same as the bank documents the bank
has, although the numbers allegedly correspond to Corona's dollar accounts.
The illegally-obtained document which later turned out to be a fake copy of a
bank paper was slipped by the House prosecution panel in its request for a
subpoena from the impeachment court on the bank papers of Corona.
It was Senate president pro-tempore Jinggoy Estrada who brought out the issue
of whether the documents annexed by the prosecutor, which the prosecution
claimed were submitted to court were genuine or fake.
The witness, the bank branch manager, tried evading the question, but was
finally made by Estrada to admit to the documents presented by the prosecution
as fake.
The unsportsman like conduct of the prosecution was bared last night
when a prosecution witness, PSBank Katipunan Branch manager Annabelle
Tiongson (photo) confirmed that the documents kept in their office and the
ones used by the House were different.
Tiongson also would not deny that House prosecution panel chairman Niel Tupas
Jr., is an account holder in her bank claiming to do so would violate the laws
on bank secrecy.
The production itself of bank documents is an offense under the country's law
guaranteeing the secrecy of bank deposits except under special circumstances.
"They are not replicas of genuine bank documents. They are false documents."
Tiongson said at one point during the proceedings.
The uphill battle to uncover the details of the testimony started when it
became unclear whether Tiongson was a witness of the prosecution or the defense
prompting defense panel chief Serafin Cuevas to quip that Tiongson is a "witness
of the senator judge (Franklin) Drilon" and referred to Drilon's question as
"direct examination".
Drilon during the proceedings presented court documents showing that it had
been the prosecution who had requested the documents.
House prosecutor Tupas on orders to explain their conduct by senator judges,
pointed to media reports which they said confirmed the bank accounts.
"There are ethical standards to be observed by us." Enrile
admoninished prosecutors even as Tupas tried to stick to their story that the
bank document was given to them voluntarily by a "small lady".
Enrile, during the proceedings pointed out to the witness that the document
"could only come from your bank! The source can only come from your branch or
head office".
Tiongson for her part said "the document that is floating arround did not
come from our bank."
Tiongson's demeanor so infuriated members of the court that one point Enrile
told Tiongson "You are evasive. I warn you, you are under oath."
Tiongson confirmed that she also has access to the vault which contained the
specimen signature cards of the account holders. "I am the alternate custodian
of the primary custodian." she said.
Meanwhile, a figment of his imagination is what seems to be what is now
playing in the minds of the members of the Senate impeachment court and even
observers in the ongoing trial against the Chief Justice on the claims made by
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali on the so-called "short lady" who handed
over to him some documents pertaining to the magistrate's alleged undisclosed
bank accounts.
Lead prosecutor Tupas (photo) received marching orders from
the presiding officer, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, to "explain within 24
hours", in the light of the latest development which was coupled with a
testimony by a bank executive declaring in open court that the said documents
are "fake."
The said documents that included a signature specimen of Corona, were used as
attachments supplemental to the request of the prosecution panel to issue
subpoenas on the bank records and officers of PSBank and Bank of Philippine
Island (BPI).
"It (CCTV tapes) does not contain any little ladies giving anything to Rep
(Reynaldo) Umali from the time he arrived (here at the Senate) at 1 o'clock
until he boarded his car around 2:30 p.m.," Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III
said, when he mentioned in the report submitted to the impeachment court by the
Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA).
Nowhere in recorded footage of the Senate's close circuit television (CCTV)
cameras would show anything that would back up Umali's claims or even come close
to it.
Called for an explanation, Tupas remained adamant in the prosecution's claims
that an unknown source yielded the information to Umali which was eventually
given to him while they were in a meeting in Midas Hotel in Roxas Blvd., in the
evening of Feb. 2, Thursday.
Asked by Enrile who were with them in the said meeting, Tupas named his two
of the prosecution panel's co-counsel and two of their spokemen, Reps. Angara
and Miro Quimbo.
It was one of their regular meetings every Thursday where they meet after the
impeachment trial, Tupas said, adding that Umali had given him a brown envelope
which was already opened.
"He gave it to me and I examined the documents. It turned out to be the
signature specimen card," Tupas said, before he was reminded by Enrile that a
contradictory statement has just been made before the court, under oath, that
such documents are fake.
"The only statement that I can make is how we got the documents. After the
documents were given to me by Umali, we called our lawyer, the following day, we
prepared the request (for the issuance of a subpoena," Tupas said, adding that
this was in compliance to the directives of Enrile to the prosecution panel that
they "need to specifity" especially in asking for the issuance of subpoenas.
Enrile then recalled to Tupas that when he asked Umali to present a witness
as the supposed source of the said bank records, the latter claimed that it was
merely handed over to him by a "small lady" while he was inside the Senate
premises.
"We have records of CCTV regarding the movements of the congresman and it
does not show anything (about his claims). You are ordered to explain to us in
24 hours," Enrile said in berating Tupas.
It can be recalled that it was during the questioning of Sen. Francis "Chiz"
Escudero during the Feb. 6 trial proceedings when he inquired on the
circumstances of the prosecution's information on Corona's bank accounts that
Tupas and Umali said an anonymous tipster yielded the papers to them right
inside the Senate.
Tupas said Umali handed over to him the documents, around 7:30 p.m. last
Thursday in a meeting in one of the hotels located along Roxas Blvd.
Umali, when sought for further explanation, claimed that a "short lady"
allegedly approached him while he was on his way out of the Senate that same
day, around 2:30 p.m. and gave him an envelope that turned out to have contained
the said documents.
Asked by Enrile, Umali said he could no longer recall the situation then as
to the exact circumstances.
"Where was the envelope given?" Enrile inquired.
"I couldn't exactly recall because there were several documents handed to
me," he said, adding that the source could have been one of the "concerned
citizens."
"Where did you see that short lady?," the presiding officer asked in pursuing
the matter.
"It could have been your honor in the secretariat or on the way out before I
rode my vehicle going to the DPWH," Umali said, then in an apparent slip of the
tongue, mentioned that the source whom he identified as a "he" just passed on
the envelope to him.
"You did not know this lady?" asked Enrile.
"Not at all your honor," said Umali.
FROM SUN STAR ONLINE
High Court expects Senate action on Corona's dollar accounts
Monday, February 13, 2012
[PHOTO - President of Philippine Savings (PS) Bank presented Supreme
Court Chief Justice Renato Corona's millions of accounts on Day 14 of the
impeachment trial. (Photo from Yahoonews, February 10,
2011).]
MANILA (Updated) -- Supreme Court (SC) justices had anticipated the Senate
impeachment court's action to keep the confidentiality of Chief Justice Renato
Corona's dollar accounts at the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank).
SC spokesperson Midas Marquez made the statement on Monday as the senators
voted to abide by the High Court ruling issued last week despite the alleged
P100-million bribe offered by Malacañang to each senator to defy the temporary
restraining order (TRO).
"The court welcomes the position taken by the Senate. It was an order issued
by the court and the court was actually expecting that it will be complied
with," he said.
Marquez has yet to talk to the Chief Justice on the results of the voting,
where 13 senators, including presiding officer and Senate President Juan Ponce
Enrile, upheld the court's move to intervene in the impeachment proceedings.
Voting 13-10, the impeachment court decided to hold in abeyance its subpoena
on Corona's dollar-account records.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said, however, that the Senate reserves
the right "to vigorously defend" the basis for the subpoena it issued last week.
Enrile said the Senate asserts that it has the sole power to try and hear
impeachment cases and that respecting the SC order does not take away its right
"to defend the legal and public policy basis underlying the subpoenas."
Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Manuel Villar Jr., Ralph
Recto, Francis Escudero, Aquilino Pimentel III, Loren Legarda, Gregorio Honasan
II, Ramon Revilla Jr., and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. voted to abide by the TRO.
Senate President Enrile, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, and
Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III also voted with the majority.
The senators who voted to disregard the TRO were Senators Franklin Drilon,
Sergio Osmena III, Edgardo Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Pia Cayetano, Francis
Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes IV, Manuel Lapid, and Teofisto Guingona III.
Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano also voted against obeying the Supreme Court
order.
Senator-judges' arguments
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who made her position known even before the
Senate went into a caucus, said Monday the Senate must heed the TRO because "the
impeachment court is not almighty, not absolute, not illimitable, and not more
supreme than the Supreme Court."
She added forcing PSBank to reveal Corona's records without a written consent
as required by the Foreign Currency Deposit Act would be a violation of that
law.
"The lawmakers should not be the lawbreakers. Instead, the lawmakers should,
if necessary, amend the law," she said.
But doing so would also violate Corona's rights. "It has been said that the
individual right at risk in an impeachment trial is a federal judge's potential
loss of position, including the independence he or she is guaranteed," she said.
Senator Francis Escudero, considered an ally of the Aquino administration,
voted to uphold the TRO.
He said he did not agree with it being issued but that the proper place to
argue that would be before the Supreme Court.
"When we speak of morality and doing what is right, I'm of the firm belief
that in our search for the truth, this does not in any way give us any right to
violate the law," he said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, meanwhile, said the country
cannot afford to have a constitutional crisis by having the Senate and Supreme
Court clash.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV voted against recognizing the TRO, saying it was
an illegal order as far as he was concerned.
"The issue we face is not a constitutional crisis, but a moral crisis. On one
hand, the Supreme Court, which through their TRO, threw the concept of judicial
restraint out of the window and intervened in the affairs of the Senate as an
impeachment court to protect and cover up for one of their own," he said.
He added that he will stand by the majority decision, but that the decision
to obey the Supreme Court was a missed opportunity "to stand on a moral high
ground in this issue."
"This TRO, in my uncomplicated mind, that of a soldier, is an unlawful
order," he said.
Senator Teofisto Guingona III, for his part, warned that failing to open
Corona's dollar account would lead to a "bankruptcy of accountability."
"The concern is this: There is another petition for a TRO at the Supreme
Court today. What will stop the court from issuing a second TRO? Or a third? A
fourth?" he said.
Voting 8-5, the SC justices last week took into consideration the PSBanks'
citation of the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 6426, or the Foreign Currency
Deposit Act of the Philippines, which bars the banks to divulge contents of the
accounts without the written permission of the depositor.
Citing Intengan vs Court of Appeals, the SC ruled in February 15, 2002 that
if the accounts in question are US dollar deposits, the applicable law should be
RA 6426.
The court sustained this position in Government Service Insurance System
(GSIS) vs 15th division of Court of Appeals last June 8, 2011, when the justices
ruled that Westmont Bank cannot be forced to disclose the dollar deposits of
Domsat Holdings Inc.
"The written consent under RA 6426 constitutes a waiver of the depositor's
right to privacy in relation to such deposit. In the present case, neither the
prosecution nor the Impeachment Court has presented any such written waiver by
the alleged depositor, Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. Also, while impeachment
may be an exception to the secrecy of bank deposits under RA 1405 (Law on
Secrecy of Bank Deposits), it is not an exemption to the absolute
confidentiality of foreign deposits," the SC's TRO obtained by Sun.Star read.
For his part, Associate Justice Arturo Brion said in his concurring opinion
that the stay order was also a way to prevent a possible bank run, a situation
where traders and other depositors withdraw their accounts.
"The bank's failure in its obligation -- given the media coverage and the
non-legal slant it can give -- gives rise to a real danger that the bank's
reputation may suffer. In a very bad situation, the effect goes beyond the
bank's reputation and can adversely affect the economy," Brion said in his
10-page opinion.
Corona's lawyers said the Chief Justice's dollar deposits will be disclosed
before the senator-judges in "due time" even as Malacañang expressed hope for
conviction.
"The Senate has categorically stated evidence on peso accounts has been
validly produced. As more evidence of this nature is produced, it can only
underscore how the Chief Justice willfully broke the law," presidential
spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a statement.
Corona maintained, however, that he has not amassed ill-gotten wealth as
repeatedly accused by the prosecutors from the House of Representatives.
"To the prosecution team, I do know my law. I have not broken any law. I have
no liability to the people and to the government. What my wife and I have is the
fruit of hard and honest work for which all taxes have been fully paid," he
said.
He also accused President Benigno Aquino III of committing an impeachable
offense "when he came out swinging by openly urging the senator-judges to
disobey the Constitution he has personally sworn to uphold."
Corona failed to elaborate.
He maintained that he was a stumbling block to Aquino, who wanted to stop the
distribution of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac to the 4,915 farmer-beneficiaries.
The farmer-beneficiaries had feared that Corona's possible removal might pave
the way for the reversal of the November 22 resolution that ordered the land
distribution and junked the stock distribution option.
This scheme, according to the High Court, would result in inequity and
prejudice to the farm workers as they will remain the minority stockholders of
the estate owned by the relatives of the President.
Not a victory for Corona
The House prosecution panel said the Senate's decision to respect the
injunction issued by the Supreme Court does not translate into a victory for the
Chief Justice and his lawyers.
Representatives Romero Frederico Quimbo, Juan Edgardo Angara and Lorenzo
Tanada III, spokespersons for the prosecution team, stressed that the 13-10 vote
in favor of honoring the TRO is not an indication of how voting will be when it
comes to the evidence presented.
"It's not even a victory on how Senate will rule on the case – on whether to
acquit or convict (Corona)," Quimbo said.
Quimbo added that while the prosecution team respects the decision of the
Senate sitting as an impeachment court, it should be noted that it might set a
precedent if the SC rules in favor of the Chief Justice in his petition to
declare the impeachment proceedings as "null and void".
Tañada added the Senate decision would have completed the prosecution's story
on Article 2 of the impeachment complaint -- Corona's non-disclosure of his
statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Citing documents contributed by a "small lady", the prosecution earlier
alleged Corona of having dollar accounts at the PSBank. One of the accounts,
they said, was opened with an initial deposit of $700,000.
Corona is presumed to have close to P32 million in three peso accounts -- two
in PSBank and one in the Bank of the Philippine Islands – in December 2010.
Corona only declared P3.5-million cash for the same year.
Meanwhile, the prosecution's spokespersons who are also members of the House
of Representatives pushed for the approval of a measure that would amend Foreign
Currency Deposit Act of 1974. This was the same law cited by the SC in the
issuance of a TRO. It said disclosure of dollar accounts is not provided under
the law.
"We hope this will pass in the 15th Congress," Quimbo said.
A bill filed by ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio allows
examination of foreign currency deposits "in cases of impeachment, or upon order
of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public
officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject
matter of the litigation." (Virgil Lopez/Jonathan de
Santos/Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)
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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