CORONA DOLLAR, PESO BANK ACCOUNTS AS EVIDENCE
MANILA, MARCH 7, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Maila Ager - The Senate
sitting as an impeachment court decided on Tuesday to admit the evidence
presented by the prosecution team pertaining to both the peso and dollar bank
accounts allegedly owned by Chief Justice Renato Corona.
"The court has arrived at a decision and ruling that it will deny the motion
to suppress and accept the evidence for the consideration of the court in
connection with Article II of the Articles of Impeachment and we are going to
issue a lengthy, formal written decision or ruling on this particular matter,"
Senate President Juan-Ponce Enrile announced after an all-party caucus held in
the Senate.
Enrile was referring to a 33-page motion to suppress "illegally obtained
evidence" filed by Corona's camp last week in connection with the bank documents
presented as evidence by the prosecution team for Article 2 of the impeachment
complaint.
Article 2 pertains to Corona's alleged failure to disclose to the public his
statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.
In explaining their decision, Enrile pointed out that the supposed
unwarranted search or arrest was not done by the state or its agents like the
police, National Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies.
"And so in the case of this particular matter where bank accounts of the
respondent, Chief Justice, were revealed, disclosed to the public, there's no
showing that it was done by the government. There's no clear showing that it was
done by the government," he stressed.
"And so far as the facts indicate, there's no question that these alleged
bank deposit account numbers exist and if the release was done by private
parties, this will not be covered by the Constitution exclusion rules," the
Senate leader pointed out.
The second reason, Enrile said, was that both Republic Acts 1405 and 6426
pertaining to local and foreign currency deposits, respectively, have no
exclusion provisions.
"Meaning, provisions which expressly exclude or proscribe the admissibility
of the records of bank deposits when they are illegally released to the public,"
he explained.
The issue on Corona's alleged dollar bank accounts, Enrile said, was also
covered in the motion to suppress filed by the defense team.
"As far as the admissibility of the evidence presented both for the so-called
foreign currency deposits as well as the local currency deposits since there are
no provisions in the two RAs (Republic Acts) involved excluding illegally
released documents or bank accounts, then we are going to accept the offer of
evidence on this particular article, Article 2," he said.
"We are talking of the documents that were submitted. We're not talking of
opening the accounts," he said.
So far, the document submitted to the Senate by the prosecution team was the
alleged customer identification and signature cards of Corona for his dollar
account with the Philippine Savings Bank.
But PS Bank officials, who appeared before the impeachment trial, claimed the
document was fake.
The Senate suspended its discussion on the dollar bank accounts after the
Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order. The Senate, voting 13-10,
voted to comply with the court's ruling.
Reminded about the TRO issued by the high tribunal, Enrile said, "Well, that
is another matter. Let the Supreme Court decide the case."
"If they said that there is a violation of Republic Act 6426, so be it," he
said.
"But that violation does not imply or mean that the evidence that was
released in violation of the law could not be admitted as evidence. Now the
result of the decision that there is a violation whoever was the one responsible
for the release will have to go to jail when a criminal case is filed against
that person whoever he or she is under the penalties provided in the laws,"
Enrile added.
[PHOTO - ANNA BASA "We were shocked to know that there was
an P11-million cash advance given to Corona in his SALN report." RICHARD REYES]
THE BASA-GUIDOTE PROPERTY ISSUE:
Ana Basa: We were oppressed by the Coronas
By Cynthia D. Balana Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:07 am | Tuesday,
March 6th, 2012 -
Impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona reported in his statements of assets,
liabilities and net worth (SALNs) in 2003 and 2004 that he had obtained an
P11-million cash advance from Basa-Guidote Enterprise Inc. (BGEI).
The alleged loan has turned media attention to BGEI, the company established
in 1961 by the family of the Chief Justice's wife, Cristina Roco-Corona, and the
internal squabble that pitted one side of the family against another.
At the impeachment trial, Corona's lawyers said the money [P32.6 million
according to the prosecution] withdrawn by Corona from his three peso time
deposit accounts with Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) on Dec. 12, 2011, came
from the proceeds of the sale of a piece of BGEI property to the City of Manila.
The withdrawals came on the same day that 188 members of the House of
Representatives impeached the Chief Justice.
Jose Ma. Basa III, one of the original BGEI stockholders and Cristina's
uncle, had filed an estafa case against his niece for her alleged failure to
account for the P34-million income from the sale of a property on Bustillos
Street in Sampaloc, Manila, to the city government.
The case, however, was dismissed by the court, and Cristina won a libel case
against Jose Ma. III and his wife for putting out a public notice in the
Philippine Daily Inquirer which she alleged was malicious and put her in a bad
light. Jose Ma. III died not long after in the United States. [The notice
appeared in the Classified Section of the Inquirer on June 4, 1995. It announced
that Jose Ma. III, who claimed to be a majority stockholder, had filed a
criminal case against Cristina for allegedly misappropriating rentals due BGEI.]
In this interview, Ana Basa, one of Jose Ma. III's nine children and one of
the heirs of the original stockholders of BGEI, talks about the family
corporation and what she claims were the injustices heaped on them by the Corona
couple. Some paragraphs of the transcript of the interview were interposed for
clarity.
For security reasons, Ana, who is here on a short visit, requested the
Inquirer not to reveal her whereabouts. She has been in the casino business for
more than 20 years now in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The impeachment trial will resume on March 12, and it will be the turn of the
defense panel to prove that the P11 million that Corona declared as a liability
in his SALN and the P32.6 million he withdrew from PSBank on December 12 did not
belong to him.
PDI: I understand you are already based in the US. Why are you here in the
Philippines?
ANA BASA: We came here mainly to visit my Tita Flory, who is a nun. She just
turned 90 and is one of the original stockholders of BGEI. She's the sister of
my father and Cristina's mother, Asuncion Roco.
Part of the reason we came is because, you know, we never dreamed that BGEI
or even the stockholders would be involved in this impeachment case. The only
reason we are sitting here with you now is because Renato Corona included BGEI
in his SALN report. That was the first time the stockholders learned about his
business interest in BGEI. The original stockholders—my father, Asuncion Basa,
Mario Basa and Sister Concepcion Basa—have passed away, except for Sister Flory
Basa. So we were shocked that there was an P11-million cash advance given to
Corona in his SALN report.
We're coming out now because we've been asking the controlling body of BGEI
to show us the corporate books. We've been asking for this for years and years,
I believe since 1989. Cristina Corona is the administratrix of BGEI and
stockholders have been denied their legal rights to inspect the books of BGEI.
[PHOTO - BASA-GUIDOTE BUILDING SITE Residents say the Basa-Guidote
building used to stand on this vacant lot in Legarda, Manila. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE]
The remaining stockholders, who are now in their late 80s and 90s, including
Sister Flory Basa, still have pending cases involving BGEI. We're not doing this
to either support or oppose Corona's impeachment. But in the past 20 plus years,
they heaped sufferings upon my parents, Jose Ma. III and Raymunda "Randy," and
the rest of the stockholders of BGEI. So much injustice has happened and
(sobbed) … this makes me sad when I talk about this because it brings back
memories of my dad who fought and struggled just to get justice.
It's almost impossible for someone like Cristina Roco-Corona to be able to
heap this injustice on us without someone there to help her. Talagang inapi kami
(We were really oppressed) in a way that I can't even express in words the
sufferings. So I just want to make people realize that we believe that a Chief
Justice whom Cristina is married to was involved in this type of injustice
because Cristina on her own could not have done that.
You know, there were incidents where my parents were being harassed. There
were people sent to our house with guns, scaring my parents, and phone calls in
the middle of the night because there were pending cases regarding this
corporation.
Inapi kami talaga (We were really oppressed). If they can do (this) to their
own blood relatives, what more to people out there who are old, are not
politicians, are not rich and are not lawyers? My parents were just ordinary
citizens, just being good citizens here in the Philippines and yet to have your
own blood relatives cause this type of injustice is … (sobbed)
My father unfortunately passed away without getting justice. My mother, who
is one of the stockholders and is now 83, still wants to see justice. Imagine up
to now, we still have a warrant of arrest because there was a libel case that
was filed against us. She wanted to come here to visit Tita Flory, a nun for
over 60 years, on her 90th birthday. Sister Flor was actually asked about her
wish. She said "I just wanna see justice in my lifetime." Imagine a nun even
saying that? And then there was an incident—our caretaker whom Corona pointed a
gun at.
Caretaker
PDI: Who was that?
BASA: Mang Indo (Pedro Aguilon). It happened when my father came here because
he heard complaints from tenants of BGEI. We went to the property where BGEI was
located. Mang Indo was a caretaker there. He let us into the property one
evening. The Coronas got mad. Mang Indo said he was so scared that he did not
want to file a case against Corona after the latter put a gun to his head. He
feared that if he filed a case, Corona might kill him.
The barangay captain was actually encouraging him to file a case but he was
so afraid. He is not rich and does not have the means to do so.
He just executed a sworn statement of what actually happened to him so that
in the event that something really happened to him, at least people would know
this experience he had.
When Corona put a gun to his head, Corona said: Gusto mo bang pasabugin kong
mukha mo (Do you want me to blast your face)? That's what the Chief Justice said
to him back in 1997 (showing to the Inquirer the original copy of Mang Indo's
sworn affidavit).
PDI: At that time, Corona was … what?
BASA : At that time, he was already with Malacañang Palace, and I believe he
was adviser for legal affairs for President (Fidel) Ramos. I know my father had
written to President Ramos about our case, what's been happening to us, and to
GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo).
We never really got any kind of support or response. I believe that Corona
has been the dutiful power behind the scenes that allowed his wife to mock the
laws of the land. She arrogated unto herself sole control of the family-owned
Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. because, no matter how hard Cristina would have
tried, she would not have succeeded without the assistance of her husband. He
walked the corridors of power and obviously he knows how to make full use of the
powers at his disposal.
I must confess that I agonize over this decision to come out and spill
unflattering information about Chief Justice Corona. But this painful side of
what happened to us must be told because the truth about Corona must be set
free. He has made life miserable for our family and relatives. He can do more
harm to others. We are coming out, comforted by the thought that we are doing
our share to make the country aware of this man and to protect the integrity of
the Supreme Court.
You know, we just want to let people know about our side of the story. This
is not about the (impeachment) case. It's about the injustice. We just want to
bring it out in the open—the kind of person he is. Again, we're not a vindictive
people. We are not here to get even or anything. We just want to let the people
know that the suffering and injustice that were inflicted on my family and the
rest of the stockholders. We still haven't received justice. This has been going
on (for), my God! Over 20 years.
We've been wanting to get an accounting of BGEI. We have not received any
kind of accounting. That's all what we really wanted—to see the books.
Stockholders are entitled to that. That's their right and yet they've been
deprived of that. So now that my dad had passed away, we at least would want to
have my mom and the rest of the remaining stockholders to be able to live
peacefully, knowing that justice has been served.
Shocked
PDI: Have you been following the impeachment trial of Chief Justice
Corona?
BASA: Yeah. Actually, since it first came out, we were shocked to read that
in the papers that there was an impeachment trial that was going to happen
against Chief Justice Corona. The reason that we're following is that BGEI has
been brought up. … In fact, we really feel sad for his family and what they must
be going through.
PDI: And the Corona children?
BASA: May sympathy din naman ako sa family.
In God's time
PDI: What about Cristina?
BASA: I said family.
PDI: The Chief Justice is in trouble for betrayal of public trust, graft and
corruption, and culpable violation of the Constitution. Do you see any poetic
justice here?
BASA: We always felt that we're not in control, God is in control.
Everything's gonna happen in God's time, so perhaps all of our prayers are being
answered. Tita Flory is very forgiving because she's a nun, but what about the
truth? Even if you forgive someone, what about the truth? What about the
injustice? This is the reason why, against all odds, the Basa family is pressing
on with the struggle for justice.
It is a struggle for all the abuse and excesses they did to their own clan.
It is a struggle and will continue until the "Honorable" Chief Justice will be
made to answer for all the injustices and for mocking the laws of the land. It
is about justice and redeeming the Filipino's hope and trust in the workings of
democracy and government.
What we know for sure is that God will render justice with all fairness,
equality and firmness that have been denied the Basa family and so many others
in their long and lonely fight for dignity. Indeed, all the trouble and tears
will not be in vain.
PDI: Considering the public humiliation that the Coronas are going through
(because of the impeachment), can you now say that's prayers heard?
BASA: We always felt that everything happens in God's time. We did not bring
this out. What's happening to them is their own doing. We did not do anything to
cause that to them. They brought it on themselves. We just happened to be
included in the impeachment case because it was mentioned in the SALN report.
And I know that Corona's lawyers were saying, "Why are they coming out only
now?" It's because we only found out [about the P11 million and P32.6 million
recently]. Had we known about these things, we could have come out in the open
much earlier.
But we didn't know, besides we were so helpless and powerless. As I said,
we've been kept in the dark all these years about BGEI. We didn't know about the
cash advance, that the money withdrawn on Dec. 12, 2011, from three different
accounts under Corona's name was said to belong to BGEI.
PDI: Do you see this impeachment as a welcome development for the heirs?
BASA: Well, with the impeachment, what happened was there were a lot of
revelations for us.
PDI: Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
BASA: Well, you know what? I used to say that we could not see the light at
the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, this will be the last chapter of this whole
ugly, bitter struggle that we have experienced. It's very painful to really
watch our family suffer in their hands. You know, it says "who are we to judge?"
I'm not judging anybody.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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