Senate allows presentation of bank records sans SC TRO
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
MANILA—The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, has begun hearing the testimony of an official of the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), where Chief Justice Renato Corona allegedly maintains a dollar account.
Related Articles
This developed after the court’s presiding officer Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile allowed the presentation of bank records since the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the matter.
Corona’s lawyers filed the petition hours earlier, which may be tackled by the special session of the SC en banc on Thursday afternoon.
For minutes, lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas tried to convince the impeachment court not to touch on Corona’s bank records until Tuesday next week since doing so would make their petition moot.
His efforts, however, turned futile after Enrile tasked the prosecution panel to bring PSBank president Pascual Garcia III to the witness stand. Pascual brought documents on Corona’s five peso accounts in the bank’s branch in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City.
Last Monday, House prosecutors said Corona opened a PSBank account in October 2008 with an initial deposit of $700,000, which was allegedly undeclared in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
