Witness: Prosecution's copy of Corona's bank records 'fake'

Monday, February 13, 2012

CHIEF Justice Renato Corona’s lawyers said Monday that testimony from the past week may be stricken off the record if the photocopied documents attached to the prosecution's request to subpoena Corona’s bank records are found to have been faked.

Doubts on the authenticity of the documents were raised during the testimony of Philippine Savings Bank-Katipunan branch manager Annabelle Tiongson on the 16th day of the impeachment trial Monday.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

After seeing the copies of the documents, Tiongson told Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that they were not replica of authentic documents.

"They are fake documents, sir," she said.

Enrile pressed her if she was sure, to which she replied that she was.

"These did not come from our bank," she said, noting the details on the copies were different from those on originals that PSBank President Pascual Garcia III earlier submitted to the Senate.

Defense lawyer Tranquil Salvador III said previous testimony of PSBank officers may be stricken off the record if indeed the photocopies are not genuine.

At the February 9 trial, Garcia also said the photocopies attached to the prosecution's request seemed to have material differences with PSBank documents.

"There are documents floating around, but they did not come from our bank," he said then.

The photocopies, the prosecution panel said, were given to Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali on February 2 by an unknown "small lady" as he was leaving the Senate.

Umali, a member of the prosecution panel, said he did not know the lady but he gave the documents to lead prosecutor Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr.

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms had reviewed footage from closed-circuit television cameras installed at the Senate but there was no footage of any "small lady" giving Umali anything from the time he arrived at the Senate until he left that day.

The prosecution panel has 24 hours to explain.

The defense panel has been saying the bank records are inadmissible as evidence because the subpoena for them was based on bank documents that were either fake or leaked in violation of bank secrecy laws.

Enrile has already said that if the photocopies are fake, there would be basis to void the subpoena on Corona's PSBank accounts.

"If these are inadmissible, we will have wasted all these days (of arguing)," Salvador said.

He added prosecutors may be held liable for using the documents. (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)