PHNO-HL: WAIVER CHALLENGE: AND THEN THERE WAS ONE, 187 OTHERS REFUSED

WAIVER CHALLENGE: AND THEN THERE WAS
ONE, 187 OTHERS REFUSED
[PHOTO -(Rep.
Ferriol signs waiver) Rep. Abigail Faye Ferriol: "I am rising to the
challenge."]
MANILA, MAY 24, 2012 (STANDARD) Posted May 24th, 2012 by
Christine F. Herrera - THE youngest member of the House of Representatives was
the only one among 188 lawmakers to accept Chief Justice Renato Corona's
challenge Wednesday to sign a waiver that would subject her bank accounts to
scrutiny.
"I am rising to the challenge given by Chief Justice Renato Corona during the
impeachment trial," said Kalinga Rep. Abigail Faye Ferriol, who at 27 has earned
the distinction of being the "Benjamin of the House."
"He asked the 188 signatories [of the impeachment complaint] and [Senator
Franklin] Drilon to sign a waiver as well, and I am accepting the challenge."

Ferriol, a fresh law graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, said she
stood for transparency and public accountability like Corona. But she was quick
to add that she did not have any foreign currency accounts.
"I have no dollar accounts. The waiver constitutes good faith on my part and
further proof that I am not hiding anything," Ferriol told the Manila Standard.

"I heard the chief justice saying that the 188 lawmakers were quick to accuse
him and sign the impeachment complaint, and so I am showing that I am also quick
to rise up to the challenge and sign a waiver as he wished."
As the youngest member of Congress, Ferriol said, she was in no position to
challenge Drilon and her colleagues in the House to also sign a waiver.
"It is ideal that all of us 188 complainants sign the waiver so Corona will
not have a reason not to open his bank accounts to scrutiny since we are all
after the truth, but it is also best for the chief justice to simply disclose
his accounts without condition.
"It is my hope that the Chief Justice himself would make good on his stand
for transparency and public accountability by executing his waiver without
conditions and submitting himself to cross examination by the prosecution."
Lead prosecutor Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., however, told the impeachment
court Wednesday he would not sign a waiver, calling Corona's challenge a
"diversionary tactic."
Senator Franklin Drilon also refused to sign a waiver, saying he was not on
trial.
Ferriol said she made her waiver available to the defense team, and that her
net worth was P470,000, which made her the fourth poorest member of the
285-member House.
Of the amount, she said, half was in cash and another half was her 1999 model
Mitsubishi Pajero.
She had no other assets and still lived with her parents in Cavite.
Drilon did not count Feriol when he declared Wednesday that "none of the 189
will sign the waiver." He said signing the waiver would set a bad precedent
because all the bank accounts of those in the government would be opened, and
"this would be disastrous" to the banking system.
"I will not sign the waiver," he said.
During his opening statement on Tuesday, Corona signed a waiver allowing the
authorities to make public his peso and dollar accounts, but said he would only
release the document if all the 188 lawmakers who signed the complaint against
him and Drilon, who has been openly critical of the chief justice, also signed a
similar waiver.
When Senator Francis Escudero asked if anyone among the prosecution signed a
copy of the waiver, Tupas replied "None. I haven't seen the form."
Escudero then asked former Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, Corona's lead
counsel, how much time was being given to gather the 189 waivers, but he could
not answer the question.
Pressed by Senator Jinggoy Estrada to say if he would sign the waiver, Tupas
said, "We will not sign."
But the opposition lawmakers urged their 188 colleagues to sign the waiver,
saying they would follow suit if the complainants led the way.
House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said they too would be
willing to sign a waiver if the administration allies led by Drilon did so.
House Deputy Minority Leader and Surigao del Sur Rep. Phillip Pichay said
Drilon's signature would be enough.
"I don't need the 188 to sign a waiver. I just need the one at 189 and I
would sign my own waiver," Pichay said.
Pichay, who had served as auditor for a number of private companies, said the
prosecution panel misconstrued more than 82 transactions with different banks as
82 bank accounts belonging to the chief justice.
Pichay explained that a bank issued a new account if a depositor wished to
renew an old account for time and foreign currency deposit.
He said not even the biggest companies in the country had 82 bank accounts.

Earlier, administration ally and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II
dismissed Corona's challenge as nothing but a media ploy. He also said Corona's
waiver was defective because of the conditions he imposed. With Maricel V. Cruz
and Macon Ramos-Araneta

(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/May/24)
CORONA ALLOWS OPENING OF HIS BANK DEPOSITS Posted May 22nd, 2012 by Christine F. Herrera & filed
under Feature.
Signs waiver but dares accusers to do same
CHIEF Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday signed a waiver authorizing
the opening of all his peso and dollar accounts and dared the 188 lawmakers who
filed the impeachment complaint against him and Senator-Judge Franklin Drilon to
sign a similar document to subject their bank accounts to scrutiny in the
interest of transparency and public accountability.
"You and me are all on trial here. Let us stop the posturing," Corona told
the court on Day 40 of the impeachment trial.
"This is an invitation for transparency and public accountability. I am no
thief, I am no criminal, I have done no wrong. I am also no fool."
Corona said he would release his waiver to the authorities once the 188
congressmen and Drilon signed similar documents.
For close to three hours, and breaking into tears at some points, Corona took
the witness stand and addressed the nation to show he had nothing to hide, and
to hit back at President Benigno Aquino III and his critics for what he
described as a campaign of "hatred" against him.
In a long opening statement that formed part of his testimony, Corona
declared that his conscience was clear and that he had not stolen a single
centavo from public funds. He said his assets were the result of "decades of
honest and hard work."
Private prosecution lawyer Mario Bautista tried several times to stop Corona
from hurling accusations at his critics, particularly at President Aquino and
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who accuse him of having 82 dollar accounts
with $10 million to $12 million in deposits.
Using a slide show in the same way that Morales did last week, Corona said he
did not have 82 dollar accounts but only four. He also did not have 31 peso
accounts but only three.
"The analysis of the Anti-Money Laundering Council report shows many accounts
were already closed and the funds transferred to settlement accounts," Corona
told the court.
"Each time a time deposit would mature and be rolled over, a new account
would be created or consolidated to make a new one to earn higher interest.
"I do not have 82 dollar accounts as charged by the Ombudsman. The alleged
AMLC report itself, contrary to the Ombudsman's misleading representations, will
show that there were only four dollar accounts by December 2011. Four, and not
82."
Corona said Morales "invented the baseless accusations" in the same way that
the prosecution panel had accused him of owning 45 pieces of property, when he
only had five.
He detailed the longstanding dispute in his wife's family over the land owned
by the family-owned Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. He said the case was still in
court after several decades—a situation that would not have existed if he had
used his influence as chief justice, as his accusers have said he did.
Signing his waiver at the witness stand, Corona authorized the Bureau of
Internal Revenue, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, the Securities and Exchange
Commission, and the Land Registration Authority to disclose to the public all
information that might show his assets, liabilities, net worth, business
interests and financial connections, including those of his wife.
But his emotional opening statement came to an abrupt end when he excused
himself and left the plenary hall without being discharged by the court.
After a 30-minute break, Corona was brought back to the court in a
wheelchair. His lawyer said the chief justice had suffered a diabetic attack.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who appeared irritated, told the defense
lawyers they would have to bring their client back today to face cross
examination, or his entire testimony would be struck from the record.
Corona listened to the exchange without comment.
He's back. After a lull in the impeachment trial, Chief Justice Renato Corona
returns to the session hall on a wheelchair. LINO SANTOS
In his opening statement, Corona said he did not declare his foreign currency
deposits in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth because he was
strictly following the law, which grants absolute confidentiality to foreign
currency accounts.
"The situation is not my doing," he said.
"It has been in place for a very long time. It is a common view that RA 6714
does not amend the secrecy of foreign currency deposits. In fact there is no
jurisprudence or ruling on the matter. On the contrary, [Supreme Court]
decisions confirm that the secrecy afforded by RA 6426 is absolute. Certainly, I
should not and cannot be penalized for abiding and relying on the letter of the
law."
Corona told the court that he and his wife had kept their savings in dollar
accounts for years because the US currency was stable. He did not say how much
he had in his accounts, but said it was well below the $10 million to $12
million that Morales claimed he had.
He said his multi-million-peso deposits were also not declared because the
money was held in trust and came from the sale of a BGEI lot in Manila for P34
million. He insisted that nothing in what he had done or omitted to do amounted
to an impeachable offense.
"The inaccuracies in my SALN do not constitute an impeachable offense. Not
every omission, not every inaccuracy is an impeachable offense," he said.
"In this case, the prosecution itself in fact admitted in open court, right
here, that an omission or inaccurate declaration in the SALN, while it may
constitute perjury, is not a high crime,"
"My accusers talked about my moral fitness to remain as chief justice. What
moral fitness, I ask? This has never been alleged in the complaint."
Corona said the people accusing him of being unfit were the same ones who
"broke every law" to destroy him and his family.
At the end of his opening statement, Corona signed his conditional waiver and
read it to the court:
"I, Renato C. Corona, hereby waive my right of confidentiality and secrecy of
bank deposits under R.A. 1405 as amended and authorize all banking institutions
to disclose to the public any and all bank documents pertaining to all peso and
foreign currency accounts under my name.
"I hereby authorize the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Anti-Money Laundering
Council, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Land Registration
Authority to disclose to the public any and all information that may show my
assets, liabilities net worth, business interests and financial connections, to
include those of my spouse.
"I am likewise authorizing the clerk of court of the Supreme Court, with
permission from the [Supreme Court] en banc, to immediately release to the
public my SALN for the years 2002 to 2011. "Wherefore, with God and the Filipino
people as my witness, I affix my signature this 22nd day of May 2012 at Pasay
City, Philippines. Signed, Renato C. Corona, chief justice, Supreme Court,
Philippines."
Corona's challenge found no takers, however.
Lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. refused to sign a waiver, saying the challenge
was a "diversionary tactic," while another prosecution panel member said it was
a sign of Corona's desperation.
Drilon, who has been accused of being biased against the chief justice, also
refused to accept the challenge.
"I will not fall to his trap," he said.
"I will not go down to his level. He is pathetic." With
Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/May/23)



Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi

© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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