Palace distances self from possible forfeiture case vs Corona

MALACANANG on Thursday distanced itself from the reported plan of the Office of the Ombudsman to file a forfeiture case against deposed Chief Justice Renato Corona.

"It's an independent office. When they decide to file, what they would file, it's all up to the Office of the Ombudsman," Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.

Lacierda said he would not want to comment on the plan of the Ombudsman but he believed that the anti-graft body is only doing its duty.

"The Ombudsman is merely fulfilling its mandate. They are duty-bound to do if they should find a probable cause to file a forfeiture case against the former Chief Justice," he said.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales earlier said her office is planning to file a forfeiture of assets case against Corona.

Morales's statement came after the filing of tax evasion charges by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against Corona, his daughter and son-in-law.

House Minority leader Danilo Suarez on Wednesday appealed to the Aquino administration for compassion for Corona saying that the ousted Chief Justice is already "professionally dead."

But Lacierda said the government is only doing its job and show that no one is above the law.

"If we see something wrong and we don't file a case, the public will say that there is a law for the rich, for those in power, and there is a law for the poor. That is not right and that was the reasoning of Commissioner [Kim] Henares. That reasoning also applies to all of us," he said. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)