OMBUDSMAN MORALES: I'LL TELL
EVERYTHING ABOUT $10-M BANK DEPOSIT
[PHOTO - FOR CLEAN GOV'T.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales leads a short Run Against Corruption at the
Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday. Running with her are more than 100 people
calling for the truth, especially in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice
Renato Corona. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ]
MANILA,
MAY 11, 2012
(INQUIRER) By Leila B. Salaverria, TJ Burgonio
- Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales will take the witness stand in the
impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona and will disclose all that is
necessary about her request for him to answer allegations from complainants
about his alleged $10 million in foreign currency accounts.
Asked if the $10-million figure came from the complainants, Morales told the
media to wait for her testimony before the Senate.
Morales, a former colleague of Corona in the Supreme Court, Wednesday told
reporters that she would heed the Senate's subpoena to appear at the trial.
Morales Wednesday said the Ombudsman's mandate was to evaluate the three
complaints filed against Corona before her office to see if they can give leads
to charges.
She said it was also her mandate to ask Corona to respond to the complaints
if she believed that there was a need for further investigation.
"If the Ombudsman believes that after evaluating the complaints and the
supporting documents, that there is ground to conduct further—I want to
emphasize the word further—investigation, then we notify the respondents, the
impeachable official to answer or comment on the complaint," Morales said.
Under the law, the respondent should submit an answer within 72 hours from
receipt of the Ombudsman's directive.
"I will tell everything there that is material and relevant to my request for
the CJ to answer," she said.
She said that as of Tuesday, Corona had filed no answer to the complaints.
She added that he may have sent one by mail and if he did, it might still be on
the way to the agency.
"If I am subpoenaed by the Senate, I will obey the Senate," Morales told
reporters as she walked on Agham Road in Quezon City for the Office of the
Ombudsman's indignation march against corruption, among the activities for the
agency's 24th anniversary.
"It is just right for a citizen to obey the orders of duly constituted
authorities," said Morales, before whom Benigno Aquino III took his oath of
office as the country's 15th President in June 30,2010 when she was an associate
justice.
The Senate impeachment court on Wednesday issued subpoenas for Morales, and
Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, Risa Hontiveros, Harvey Keh and Emmanuel Tiu Santos,
who along with Ruperto Aleroza, Gibby Gorres, Albert Concepcion, Ernest Francis
Calayag, Moses Albiento and Tristan Zinampan, filed three separate complaints
against Corona in the Office of the Ombudsman.
The request of Corona's camp to subpoena the Ombudsman was made after it came
to light that she had asked the Chief Justice to respond to allegations that he
kept $10 million in foreign currency accounts, an amount supposedly
disproportionate to his income.
Corona has denied having $10 million in his accounts and has claimed that the
Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over him.
Corona to testify
Defense counsel Jose Roy III told the Senate on Tuesday that Corona would
testify on the $10 million, and requested that the impeachment court subpoena
Morales and 10 others in connection with the alleged foreign currency accounts.
The defense said that it would prove that the Chief Justice was not keeping
$10 million in bank accounts and that the Ombudsman's inquiry into the accounts
overlapped with the impeachment trial.
Net worth
Corona is accused of failing to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities
and net worth (SALN) and his wealth; favoring the Philippine Airlines over the
1998 retrenchment of 1,400 flight attendants; and clearing former President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to travel abroad in 2011 and avoid charges of electoral
sabotage.
The prosecution's earlier attempt to look into Corona's foreign currency
accounts was thwarted after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining
order that stopped the Senate from compelling Philippine Savings Bank to
disclose the records of his dollar deposits.
Scope of questioning
Corona can testify on his alleged $10-million deposits, but can't dodge
questions on his alleged nondisclosure of wealth, senators said Wednesday.
"Although there is talk of $10 million, the scope of questioning from the
entire judges would be the entirety of the impeachment. He can't escape that,"
Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said in an interview.
Sen. Franklin Drilon said: "It is not limited to $10 million because anything
relevant will be propounded to him."
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said he expected Corona to respond to
questions because he had consistently declared that he would "bare all."
"It's up to the Chief Justice to defend himself or not," he told reporters on
the prospects of the defense limiting questions on the $10 million. "It's up to
them. I will not teach them how to defend their client. They cannot control the
decision of the court."
Once Corona takes the witness stand, there was no stopping the senator judges
from throwing any question at him, Pimentel said.
"If he's already present before the court, why shouldn't the court take
advantage of his presence and talk about substantive matters? Even the defense
would like to take advantage of his presence," Pimentel said.
Right to secrecy waived
By appearing before the impeachment court, Corona is deemed to have waived
his right on the secrecy of his foreign currency accounts, the senators said.
"The confidentiality rules are in favor of somebody. If that somebody waives
it, what's the point of insisting on confidentiality? Why still talk about
confidentiality of dollar accounts?" Pimentel said.
Drilon agreed: "We don't have to compel him. He already said that he is
willing to open this (dollar account) and we hope that he remains true to that
commitment."
It's the call of the defense whether to present Corona after the Ombudsman
and Corona's accusers shall have testified on the $10 million. If the defense
decides to present Corona, he can always invoke his right to remain silent and
against self-incrimination, Drilon said.
Courtesies due CJ
"We are not going to be abrasive or disrespectful. We will grant him all
courtesies due him as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. There's no one who
will insult him or be rude to him. We will treat him with utmost deference,"
Enrile said.
The same goes with the Ombudsman, Enrile said.
"But when a question is propounded to them, it's up to them to answer or not.
If they don't answer, there is an implication of no answer. If they answer,
there is an implication of answer," he said.
Noninclusion is issue
The senators said there was no need to amend the impeachment complaint
because the alleged $10 million would fall within the allegation of
nondisclosure of assets.
"If there is $10 million in the account, the characterization of that amount
regarding its source is immaterial. We only characterize it as asset. Was it
included in the SALN or not? We're talking about noninclusion," Enrile said.
Drilon said: "The issue is the failure to report the assets. If indeed the
assets are shown to be disproportionate and far in excess of his income then
there arises a presumption under Section 8 of the antigraft law that it is
ill-gotten."
Pimentel said that even the defense admitted that the $10 million might be
construed as ill-gotten and hence, should be explained.
"The presumption of ill-gotten wealth kicks in if sufficient evidence is
already in. That should be the concern of the defense," he said.
FROM THE TRIBUNE
CJ's $10M rap collapses as accusers deny hand in dollar hoax
By Angie M. Rosales 05/10/2012
With the Senate impeachment court summoning the accusers of Chief
Justice Renato Corona, one by one, his accusers who had earlier filed complaints
and alleged that the chief magistrate had a $10 million bank account as well as
a $3 million bank account, now all claim they don't have any personal knowledge
of the multimillion-dollar deposits owned by Corona.
Corona has denied owning $10 million in banks, saying that the Ombudsman
should explain how she got the information.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales also denied that her office was conducting
a probe of the Chief Justice's alleged $10 million bank accounts, claiming that
she only obtained the information from media reports.
She said there is no ongoing investigation on Corona's alleged accounts. "We
just walked through all the reports gathered from the media and we thought that
as the impeachment is already going on, it was the best time to initiate an
investigation when we received the complaints."
Carpio-Morales said her order for Corona to explain his alleged foreign
currency deposits amounting to $10 million was based on reports from media.
She claimed as Ombudsman, she has no option but to look into complaints filed
before her office, which is why she asked Corona to explain the supposed dollar
deposits.
However, it is of record that the amount of $10 million and a probe of the
Corona were first made public by a national newspaper, which based is report
from a copy of an order it obtained, saying that a order from the Ombudsman
demanded that the Chief Justice explains his alleged $10 million bank deposits.
It was also stated that a probe was ongoing.
Apparently, even the Ombudsman pulled out the amount of $10 million from thin
air, which confirms the claim of the camp of the Chief Justice that this was a
big hoax done by the the Ombudsman and anti-Corona groups to make him look
guilty of corruption and hiding his illegal wealth.
Other accusers and complainants, namely former Akbayan party-list Rep. Riza
Hontiveros and Rep. Walden Bello denied personal knowledge of the claimed dollar
account saying that the letter-complaint she and four others filed before the
Office of the Ombudsman on Corona's alleged dollar accounts was only based on
pieces of evidence already presented before the impeachment court and that they
should not be made to testify.
Harvey Keh, another Corona accuser, also claims to having no personal
knowedge of the alleged dollar accounts of the Chief Justice, even when he also
submitted to the Senate Chief, presiding officer of the impeachment court, Juan
Ponce-Emrile, alleged dollar accounts belonging to Corona, even claiming that he
could not vouch for the documents veracity but he wanted the Senate court to use
it, despite his claims of having received these documents from an "anonymous"
source.
The camp of the Chief Justice said that these baseless charges of his owning
multi-million dollar accounts were no different from the hoax of the prosecution
and the Land Registration Authority manufacturing "evidence" by claiming that
the Coronas owned 45 pieces of property which he did not include in his
Statement of Assets and Liabilities NetworthWhen asked if there's already an
investigation on Corona's alleged dollar deposits, she said: ""None...We just
walked through all the reports gathered from the media and we thought the
impeachment is already going on, it was the best time to initiate investigation
when we received the complaints." when it was proved by the defense that the
Coronas only owned five properties which have been listed in his SALn.
On the 36th day of trial, the defense counsel of the impeached Chief Justice
came up with an announcement that stunned the Senate court, saying that Corona
will be testifying before the Senate and bare all to put an end to all these
allegations against him.
Corona sought to have several of his accusers, chief among them, the
Ombudsman, who had accused him of having a $10 million bank account which was
way above his salary as a top government official and chief magistrate.
The Senate chief immediately replied that subpoenae will be granted to all
those named by the defense counsel, all of whom will have to testify under oath,
after which, he and one more witness for the defense will be testifying to
finally put the issue of his alleged multi-million dollar accounts to rest.
But President Aquino and his aides appear to not be satisifed even after they
got what he has long been asking for — to compel the Chief Justice to testify in
the impeachment case filed against him. He now wants the chief magistrate to
explain an allegation that isn't even part of the case seeking his ouster.
In what appears to be a sustained tirade against Corona, a top palace
official issued a statement calling the chief magistrate to explain his alleged
$ 10 million dollar accounts.
"We certainly welcome the decision of the defense and also the Chief Justice
to decide to testify...but President Aquino said Corona should explain his $10
million account, because if it's unexplained, there's a presumption of
ill-gotten wealth," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda insisted.
Lacierda also said that the President welcomes the decision of the Ombudsman
to face the impeachment court. "It is a welcome development because remember,
she sent a letter to the Chief Justice and we know that the Ombudsman is very,
very careful in her findings. So when she said that there's a 10-million dollar
deposit, we would ascribe a lot of iota of truth there," Lacierda said.
Lacierda stressed that the Chief Magistrate, in testifying, must address all
allegations — including that of the alleged $ 10 million dollar account.
"We have always maintained that the only person who can testify to the
truthfulness of the SALn to the truthfulness of all his assets would be the
Chief Justice. And so by coming forth, he will be able to shed light on what he
truly has in his possession – the assets; meaning, the cash, foreign currency
deposits, as well as the real properties," Lacierda added.
Corona's accusers in the case filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on his
purported undisclosed $10 million bank accounts have been formally issued their
respective subpoenae by the Senate impeachment court, including the Ombudsman.
In summoning them to testify in the ongoing impeachment proceedings, Morales
and four others have been also ordered to bring with them not only the certified
true copies but the original copies of their filed complaint as well as
documents in which they they based their accusations that the Chief Justice has
foreign-denominated accounts with an aggregate value of $10 million.
Corona, who has volunteered to submit himself before the impeachment tribunal
to answer all charges contained in the Articles of Impeachment, including the
matter of the said alleged dollar deposits he supposedly been keeping in various
local banks, need not sign a waiver, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said.
"He need not be asked to sign a waiver (when he appears before the court).
Whatever will be asked of him, when he testifies, it will be up to him if he
will answer or not," Enrile, who is the presiding officer in the impeachment
trial, told reporters in an interview.
"We are not going to be abrasive or disrespectful. We're going to grant him
all courtesies due him as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. There's no one who
will insult him, be rude to him. We will treat him with utmost deference
including the Ombudsman but when a question is propounded to them, it is up to
them to answer or not. If they don't answer, there's an implication of the
non-answer. If they answer, there's also an implication of the answer," he
added.
Although the Senate impeachment court has barred both the defense and
prosecution panels from introducing any evidence on his alleged ill-gotten
wealth and opening of Corona's alleged foreign currency deposits, Enrile said
the issue at hand is whether the said bank accounts were declared in his SALn.
"There's 10-million account, that the characterization of that amount
regarding its source is immaterial. We only characterize it as asset. Was it
included in the SALn or not? We are talking of non inclusion (in his SALN)," the
presiding officer said, explaining that the matter of taking up the said bank
accounts by the called witnesses and Corona himself, skirted any amendments in
the verified complaints, including the standing orders issued by the court on
the opening of foreign currency deposits.
"They say he's willing to bare all. That's what they said. That's what I
heard them say," Enrile said.
But the possibility of Corona to testify only on his alleged $10 million bank
deposits remains to be seen, although the presiding officer emphasized that
there was no "condition" imposed by him or his lawyers when they sought the
issuance of the subpoenas to the said witnesses and in agreeing to submit the
chief magistrate to the witness stand.
Sen. Franklin Drilon, one of the senator-judges said that Corona cannot be
forced to answer some questions if he does not want to, adding that "the issue
of what he would answer and would not answer, or whether he would appear or not
appear are matters within their full control. We don't need to compel him (to
open his bank accounts). He said he is willing to open these and we hope that he
remains true to the commitment," the senator said.
"The issue is the failure to report his assets. Now if indeed the assets are
shown to be disproportionate and far in excess to his income then there arises a
presmption under Section 8 of the anti-graft law that it is ill-gotten," Drilon
explained.
If Corona would not respond to some clarificatory questions, it would mean
that the evidence presented against him will remain unrebutted, the senator
pointed out.
Fernan J Angeles
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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