TRUTH BODY / SOR FLORA BASA STORY
MANILA,
MARCH 9, 2012 (INQUIRER) By
Marlon Ramos - Chief Justice Renato Corona on Thursday said President Benigno
Aquino III discussed with him shortly after his inaugural a plan to set up the
Philippine Truth Commission, but that he told the latter if he had evidence
against wrongdoing this should be pursued by the judiciary in accordance with
the law and the Constitution.
Corona also revealed in a radio interview that before talk of his impeachment
surfaced last year, Senator Teofisto Guingona III, an administration stalwart,
attempted to convince him to enter into a "term-sharing" agreement with Senior
Associate Justice Antonio Carpio but that he rejected this.
"I told him I was appointed to a specific term. The term-sharing was not
mentioned (in the Constitution). When I told him it was not legally possible, he
dropped the idea," Corona said in the hourlong program "Karambola" over dwIZ on
his second day of "media-hopping" ahead of his defense presentation beginning on
Monday in the Senate impeachment tribunal.
Corona said that Mr. Aquino met with him shortly after he was sworn in on
June 2010 and asked him about a plan to create a "truth commission" to go after
"some personalities."
"I told the President that if we have evidence, then let's pursue cases
against them. That's our role in the judiciary," Corona recalled telling Mr.
Aquino. "But we need to abide by the Constitution and the requirements of the
law."
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, commenting on Corona's claim, said
at the regular news briefing in Malacañang: "What the President asked the Chief
Justice was, 'Can we expect fairness from your court?' And the Chief Justice
said, 'Yes, you can expect fairness from us. We will render decisions based on
fairness and legal precepts.'"
In a statement earlier, Lacierda said that during the meeting in the house of
Mr. Aquino's sister, Pinky Abellada, the President and Corona had an "an
exchange of opinions and views about various topics on how to strengthen the
relations between the executive and the judicial branches of government."
"In fact, the President gave him the chance to prove that he was partial to
no one, that he was only after the truth and that the interest of the majority
would prevail."
Lacierda said Mr. Aquino had nothing to do with Senator Guingona's purported
offer to Corona.
Guingona confirmed in an ambush interview that he invited Corona, his former
professor at the Ateneo Law School, to lunch with his father, former Vice
President Teofisto Guingona, in the latter's New Manila home but denied as
"totally untrue" the allegation of the Chief Justice.
He described the meeting as "a social lunch." He said that the two men had
served under the Ramos administration—his father as executive secretary and
Corona as legal adviser.
"It was 'hi, hello, how are you' and all that stuff. It was nothing of the
sort that he was saying was discussed."
The former law partners of Carpio at the influential Villaraza Cruz Marcelo
and Angangco, known as "The Firm," said in a statement that Corona's claim that
the law firm was a "hatchet job" on him was "absolutely false" and was intended
to "divert public attention from his trial."
Carpio, one of the founders of the "The Firm," was Corona's closest rival
when then Chief Justice Reynato Puno retired in May 2010.
On Tuesday, Corona was the guest in three news programs of GMA 7 during which
he belied the allegations leveled against him by the prosecution and Ana Basa,
his wife's first cousin, concerning his bank accounts.
Guingona proposal
In Thursday's radio interview, Corona referred for the first time to media
reports earlier that Guingona, one of Mr. Aquino's allies in the Senate, had
tried to persuade him to leave the judiciary way before his scheduled retirement
in 2018 to give way to Carpio.
According to Corona, the lunch meeting with the Guingonas took place
"sometime before the talks of impeachment started filtering out" last year.
"After we ate, he proposed to me: 'What do you think about retiring early and
sharing your term?' … He was asking if I was amenable to exploring talks in that
direction," Corona said in a mix of Filipino and English.
"He mentioned specifically Justice Antonio Carpio," Corona said. He said he
told his former student that such an agreement was "in violation of the
Constitution."
'Not friendly'
Corona said the meeting between him and Mr. Aquino took place at the house of
Ballsy Cruz, the President's elder sister, over lunch but Lacierda said it was
at the residence of Pinky Abellada in July 2010.
Corona said the meeting was arranged by a retired Supreme Court justice whom
he declined to identify, but a Philippine Daily Inquirer source said it was
Antonio Eduardo Nachura, a member of the ruling Liberal Party. Also in the
meeting was Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, a brod of the Chief Justice in
the Fraternal Order of Utopia.
"After having lunch, Ochoa and the justice stood up to smoke outside. The
President and I stayed behind and we started to talk," he narrated.
In their 30-minute conversation, he said he told the President: "Our only
hope is that the cases should not be filed haphazardly."
He said he also advised the President not to indiscriminately file cases
"because that's difficult."
"After that, we shook hands. He was not extraordinarily friendly to me,"
Corona said.
Death threats
In the radio interview, Corona defended the Supreme Court's decision to
declare unconstitutional the creation of the Philippine Truth Commission since
it violated the constitutional provision on equal protection.
He said the truth body "targeted only one group," referring to his erstwhile
boss, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her political allies.
"They should have amended the executive order which created the truth
commission," he said.
President Aquino took his oath of office before then Senior Associate Justice
Conchita Carpio Morales instead of Corona.
Corona was then being criticized for being a midnight appointee of Arroyo,
having been named Chief Justice after the May 10, 2010, national elections,
although the Supreme Court later ruled that the appointment was legal. The
Constitution bans presidential appointment two months before an election.
The Chief Justice also disclosed that he had decided to rent a bulletproof
sport utility vehicle after receiving death threats. He did not elaborate.
"I was told by a friend that I should not take it as a joke. The friend is
from the intelligence community, from the police intelligence," he said.
Corona is scheduled to appear in veteran broadcaster Joe Taruc's program over
radio dzRH at 8 a.m. Friday. With reports from Norman
Bordadora and Cathy C. Yamsuan
Sister Flory Basa willing to testify in Corona trial
By Chona Yu 990 AM Radyo Inquirer 12:24 am | Friday, March 9th, 2012
[PHOTO - THE NUN'S STORY Sister Flory Basa looks outside the chapel of
St. Joseph Convent in Cavite province where she is staying. The Franciscan nun
is one of the original stockholders of Basa-Guidote Enterprise Inc. RICHARD REYES]
GENERAL MARIANO ALVAREZ, Cavite—God willing, 90-year-old Sister Flory Basa on
Thursday said she would testify in the impeachment trial of her nephew-in-law,
Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
"I have to wait what the Lord tells me. I have to consider my health," Sister
Flory said in the interview at the convent of the Franciscan Missionaries of
Mary here. "I'm not your typical 60 or 70 year old nun. I am 90. I tremble when
I'm under stress."
At the convent, Sister Flory moves around slowly. She does not use a cane or
a walker, and wears neither a hearing aid nor eyeglasses. She does not take
maintenance medicines, but goes for regular medical checkups to monitor her
health.
Sister Flory is the aunt of Corona's wife, Cristina, and the only surviving
original stockholder of Basa-Guidote Enterprise Inc. (BGEI), a family-owned
company that Corona identified as the real owner of the funds [P32.6 million] he
withdrew from three peso-time deposit accounts on Dec. 12, 2011, the day he was
impeached.
The amount was said to be the proceeds of the sale of the BGEI property on
Legarda Street in Manila to the city government.
Corona also pointed to BGEI as the source of an P11-million cash advance he
listed as a liability in his statement of assets liabilities and net worth in
2003 and 2004.
'It's up to God'
Sister Flory and the other BGEI shareholders had accused Cristina of
withholding the books of the BGEI since the 1980s. Cristina's mother, Asuncion,
now deceased, was among the five original shareholders.
Cristina's father, lawyer Vicente Roco, also deceased, was BGEI's former
administrator.
In statements to the media, Corona said the original shareholders had been
compensated and had no more reason to demand their share. Sister Flory denied
this categorically.
"We have not received anything. Wala, wala (Nothing, nothing)," she said.
"That's why I was surprised when Cristina said she owns the company when that
is the legacy of my mother. If they sell that, siguro naman they will compensate
all of us. Since my other siblings are already dead, then their children should
be compensated. I don't think my mother will be happy. My mother told us to love
each other.
"What we have is truth and justice, and between that is charity. We forgave
them already (Coronas). I am praying for truth and justice. I always say truth
and justice and charity. It is up to the Lord to speak to them, to do justice.
Kinuha na nila (pera) (They got the money). What can we do? We cannot do
anything. It is up to the Lord."
But Sister Flory finds no need to demand an explanation from Cristina or her
husband. "It is up to the Lord to speak to them," she said.
"When he (Renato Corona) came into the family, we welcomed him. That's why
it's painful for all of us," the nun said. With Matikas
Santos, INQUIRER.net
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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