Impeachment court to tackle bank accounts anew

Sunday, February 19, 2012

MANILA – Bank records that have been the center of attention in past weeks of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona will again be tackled on Monday.

Also, the Senate is expected to subject a member of the House of Representatives to questions on a separate set of bank documents leaked to him by yet another unknown source.

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Quezon City Representative Jorge Banal admitted on Thursday that he had copies of a signature card purportedly related to Corona's accounts at Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) even before an unknown "small lady" gave Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali supposed photocopies of Corona's bank records.

Umali has stood by his story despite Senate security cameras having no footage on February 2 showing anybody handing him documents.

At the trial Thursday, PSBank-Katipunan branch manager Annabelle Tiongson told the Senate that Banal had approached the bank on January 31 to ask her about the documents.

She said she refused to give Banal details of Corona's accounts and even checked the records after the congressman had left the bank. This was the first time that Banal's involvement was mentioned.

Although a member of the House impeachment team, Banal is in the secretariat, and not in the prosecution panel.

Banal said on Thursday the documents had been stuck to the railings of the gate to his house in St. Ignatius Village in Quezon City.

He said he went to PSBank-Katipunan to verify the documents but Tiongson had been very firm about keeping records confidential.

Banal added nobody else on the impeachment team knew about the leaked document. He said he didn't want to give his colleagues bad information so he wanted to verify the document first.

Due to the lateness of the hour, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III moved to have the Senate invite him to come back on Monday to answer questions from senators.

The Senate will also meet in a caucus Monday to discuss the prosecution's explanation on how it received the documents, and whether these should be accepted as evidence.

The court ordered prosecutors last week to submit a written explanation after Tiongson and PSBank President Pascual Garcia III insisted the prosecution's documents were fake.

"We have reason to believe that the Senate will admit the bank documents as evidence once offered by the prosecution. The fact that the senator-judges are asking for additional information on Mr. Corona's other bank accounts and those of his wife's shows the amount of interest they have in finding out how much the couple (kept) in their bank accounts," Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, prosecution spokesman, said in a press statement Sunday.

"What has been established so far is the fact that the respondent Chief Justice has millions stashed in secret bank accounts that he did not disclose in his net worth declarations and that there is a huge discrepancy between his tax declarations and his hidden wealth uncovered by the prosecution," said Marikina City Representative Romero Quimbo, another prosecution spokesman.

It will be noted that the Senate has voted against including an allegation of "secret bank accounts" and ill-gotten wealth in the impeachment complaint.

That allegation, written in Article 2.4, has been considered removed since Article II only alleges Corona's alleged non-disclosure of his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN). The prosecution said an inaccurate declaration on Corona's SALNs is just as bad as non-disclosure.

During the trial last week, it was found out that Corona closed three peso time deposit accounts on December 12, 2011, on the same day that he was impeached by the House. Prosecutors estimate the total amount withdrawn at P37 million.

Corona's lawyers have said the money withdrawn from the three accounts was "related" to Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc (BGEI), a family corporation subject to a dispute between Corona's wife Cristina and her relatives.

They refused to give more details at a press briefing Thursday, saying doing so might touch on merits of a separate case. They said the money would be explained and Corona's bank records would be disclosed "in due time."

Corona's supposed dollar accounts with PSBank are subject of a Supreme Court injunction after the bank petitioned the court to intervene.

The High Court said disclosing details of the dollar holdings might mean breaking the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, which requires written permission from the depositor before disclosure.

Corona’s camp said Banal may face charges over the leaked documents. That matter is still being studied by Corona's lawyers.

The Senate is also expected to deliberate on another explanation, this time from the defense panel, on making allegations that Malacañang tried to bribe senators through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.

At a press conference on February 12, the defense panel said bribes of P100 million each were offered to senators in exchange for ignoring the Supreme Court injunction on dollar accounts.

The impeachment court chose to heed the injunction but senators scolded the defense panel for its allegations.

Senator Pia Cayetano told defense lawyer Jose Roy III the next day that the defense's statements were out of bounds. "To degrade the courts transcends the limits of fair comment," she said.

"Counsels must be reminded that it is their duty to uphold the dignity of the court, not to promote distrust," Cayetano added.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV also dared the defense to name its source. Estrada called the statements and attempt to "besmirch the reputation of this institution which has always stood as a bastion for democracy, truth, decency, and integrity."

The defense panel has apologized to the court both orally and in writing. It has also promised to "exercise more prudence and restraint in the future."

Ochoa has denied the bribery allegation.

"Citing rumors to prove baseless accusations to support their cause goes against the principles of decent and ethical lawyering," he said soon after the defense press conference. (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)