HIS ASSETS IN SALN; DEFENSE : A PLOY
MANILA, MARCH 17, 2012
(INQUIRER) By Gil Cabacungan, TJ Burgonio - Claiming he
undervalued his assets, prosecutors on Friday said impeached Chief Justice
Renato Corona should have declared a personal fortune of as much as P80
million—more than four times what he put down in his most recent statement of
assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
"We believe that his net worth should have been P70 million and P80 million
based on our computation of all of his assets and bank deposits that were
presented in the trial.
He only declared a net worth of P22 million in his SALN in 2010," Quezon Rep.
Lorenzo Tañada III said at a press conference.
Defense counsel Tranquil Salvador III rejected the prosecution claim.
"That is their own computation. We don't know where they got the values or
how they got the computation. We should be given a chance to lay down our
evidence. It appears they're preempting our presentation of evidence by making
their own explanation of evidence they have presented," Salvador said.
"I just hope this is not a ploy to condition the mind of the public."
Salvador added: "To my mind the statements made by the prosecution are a
reaction to the questions of certain senator-judges that their claim of 45
ill-gotten properties of Chief Justice Corona can't be proven. Based on last
count and we're only on our fourth day, we're left with only five other
properties to be explained."
Tañada said the prosecution used the acquisition costs of Corona's prime real
estate assets, such as The Bellagio penthouse and the Bonifacio Ridge prime
condo unit, to come up with his "real" net worth. The defense at Corona's
impeachment trial said the Chief Justice listed these properties at their
assessed and market values, which were markedly lower than their actual values,
primarily for tax purposes.
Tañada, a prosecution spokesperson, noted that Corona not only declared less
than a quarter of his actual net worth but that he also failed to declare his
assets and bank accounts at the year of their acquisition or opening.
"That is the question, why did he deliberately fail to fill up the
acquisition cost in all of his SALN?" he said.
Tañada stressed that the prosecution's initial estimate of Corona's net worth
did not include dollar accounts estimated to range from $300,000 to $700,000. A
temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court has prevented the
disclosure of those deposits.
Help from peers
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, another prosecution spokesperson, said
Corona knew his dollar accounts were too big to be justified by his income and
allowances, as well as by the money owned by his wife in the Basa-Guidote
Enterprises, Inc. This was why he sought the help of his peers in the high court
to block the senator-judges from prying into his foreign currency deposits,
Angara claimed.
Tañada also said the defense team took pains to bring the Supreme Court's
budget and disbursement officer Araceli Bayuga to testify at the Senate trial to
show that Corona earned P21.6 million since being appointed to the high court.
"They wanted to show that Corona had a legitimate source of income. This is
deception on the part of the defense. They told the public that the Chief
Justice had a P25-million income and it is up to you [to determine] where he
used it," Tañada said.
Tañada noted that Corona's allowances were spread out over 10 years and that
these funds were not allowed to be used to buy assets.
Tañada shrugged off a defense threat to show the SALNs of select
senator-judges to prove that these officials were also remiss in filling up the
acquisition cost column, just like Corona.
"They (the senators) will convict based on the evidence presented before
them. They will not consider their own SALNs," Tañada said. "I'm sure the
senators will say 'we are not on trial here' and that they stand by their SALNs.
'Why present our SALNs in an impeachment court?'"
Corona should testify
Angara said the defense would be comparing apples and oranges if it came out
with the SALN of legislators.
"Senators and representatives could be brought to the Ombudsman, unlike the
Chief Justice and other impeachable officers, who have to be removed from office
first before they could be charged in court," said Angara.
Tañada and Angara said that after the defense had presented seven witnesses,
it was inevitable that Corona should testify himself and personally explain why
he left out his assets and bank deposits in his SALN; why he used deflated
figures and kept blank the acquisition value of his assets; why he was
"hell-bent" on keeping his dollar accounts secret; and how much of his income
and allowances were used to buy his assets.
Abad explains
Angara said that for Corona to claim that other government officials were
doing what he was doing would not hold water.
"It's not a valid defense for a thief to say there were other thieves so what
he did was just all right. That should not be the case. Your crime is personal
to you," Angara said.
He said Corona had no basis to claim that the SALN forms were at fault for
being vague.
"All government employees have the same form. The issue is if it was
truthfully filled up. So let us not blame the form," said Angara.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday acknowledged that he only used the
assessed value of his pieces of property in his SALN disclosures during all his
years in government service.
Following a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
(PCIJ) about his supposed failure to indicate as well the current fair market
value and acquisition cost of his property, Abad said he would start doing so
when he files his SALN for 2011 this April.
"In the interest of transparency, I will review my previous SALNs and include
the acquisition cost and the fair market value, to the extent that the pertinent
documents are still available. This will also be reflected in the SALN that I
will file in April for year 2011," Abad said in a statement.
Corona's lawyer Ramon Esguerra had adverted to a PCIJ report that Abad did
not indicate the current fair market values and acquisition costs of the pieces
of property he owned.
"I acknowledge though that with respect to my real properties, I have
declared their value based on the assessed value, which has been the basis of
the taxes I have paid against these," Abad said.
"In all my years in public service, my attention has never been called to
this, whether by the Civil Service Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman or
the Commission on Appointments," he added.
Abad said he had been truthful in filing his SALNs since he was a
representative for Batanes and when he became a Cabinet member. With a report from Norman Bordadora
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
