Aftermath

Enrile cites blunders of the
Defense Panel

Senator Enrile stated the following reasons why the majority of Senator judges voted for conviction of SC Justice Renato J. Corona.

1. Presenting the Ombudsman as a "hostile" witness in the mistaken belief that she did not have proof of Corona having much money.
   
   
2. The disrespectful walk-out by Corona in his first day of appearance in the trial proper.
   
   
3. The conditions imposed by Corona on his offer to sign a waiver,for authorities to check his bank accounts, on Sen. Franklin Drilon and the 188 congressmen who signed the articles of impeachment to sign a similar waiver.
   
   
4. The sale of Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI) shares worth P34.7 million to Corona’s daughter Carla Castillo for a measly P28,000, a fact which came out from the cross-examination of a former sheriff.
   

But the most telling argument for his conviction came from the mouth of Corona! He inadvertently admitted on his second and final day of appearance that he had 2.4USDollars and 80.7 million in banks which was undeclared in his SALN.

Supreme Court Chief Justice position is vacant.

The high office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has become vacant immediately after the Senate Impeachment Court pronounced CJ Renato Corona guilty on Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment.

Senate sends Corona's 'notice of conviction' to SC.

Excerpt:

The Senate on Wednesday has sent the “notice of conviction” of Chief Justice Renato Corona to the Supreme Court. The notice was received by the Office of the Clerk of Court since the Court Administrator reportedly told the messenger that his position is co-terminus with the chief Justice.

Corona was the first Chief Justice in the country’s history that underwent impeachment trial as well as the first Philippine official to be booted out of office after being found guilty of an impeachable offense.

And erstwhile CJ Renato Corona has accepted the judgment of the Impeachment Court.
Corona: I accept the verdict..

The presiding officer of the Impeachment Court has warned the SC (Supreme Court) not to reverse
the conviction of Corona as it may lead to a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS.
JPE warns SC against reversing guilty verdict.



But apparently this does not stop the head of the defense panel Serafin Cuevas to entertain the thought of going to the SC.
Cuevas: Going to SC an option.
This is a waste of time for all the people. A historic decision has been made, and Cuevas should learn to accept this momentous decision. It just wont work anyway, and he is looking for TROUBLE!


Meanwhile the Palace is now scouting for a replacement, hopefully not a rubber stamp CJ!
Palace scouting for CJ replacement
I will be a little alarmed if Sen. Franklin Drilon will be chosen. He is a very loyal ally of the president and an active member of the LP(Liberal Party), and that fact may rub off on some members of the Judicial Bar Council which will present a formal list of candidates to the president.

This is just the start of troubles for Corona!
Tax, wealth raps eyed vs Corona

One good effect is that the Supreme court, meeting en banc, with Justice Antonio Carpio as acting Chief Justice, has ordered that SALN of all judges and justices be published (freely available, upon valid request).

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?philstar: SC orders full SALN disclosure of justices, judges

Already, Enrile has said that Pinoy should not hire an outsider, and Sen. Escudero stated that Justice Carpio should not have accepted the temporary position of Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court out of delicadeza. It is our opinion that the senators are saying out of their field. Let the SC still function and give free reign to President Noy to pick a SC Justice. Whatever happens, Filipinos should be alert and aware of what is happening.



Palace is scouting for CJ replacement. Among the names floated are Sen. Frankline Drilon, BIR Commisioner Kim Henares, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza.

So what is left? We will be waiting for the Judicial Bar Council to convene.

Corona found guilty!, hoisted with his own petard, or trapped on his own explanations.

A momentous historical moment has occurred today! A mighty and highly placed public official, no less than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been found guilty of not declaring dollar and peso account in his SALN. Sweet justice, if a lowly government court interpreter can be dismissed for not declaring her market stall in her SALN, how much more a man expected to be of the best moral character, probity and impeccable credentials? Justice has triumphed and we hope that the cancer of graft and corruption will be gradually eliminated from the sickest man of Asia.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been found guilty, today May 29, 2012, by a vote of 20-3, of not declaring his dollar accounts and cash deposits in his SALN, a violation of RA 6426. The senate did not value much his reasons, the interpretation of CJ Corona of RA-64326 as giving absolute confidentiality of dollar deposits, and for the comingling nature of his peso deposits. The main information itself came from CJ Corona! when he declared he has 2.4 million US dollars and 80 million pesos. Why did Corona chose to reveal these damning facts? He wanted to justify his ability to afford the many properties he bought. Unfortunately, he did not present any documents in his opening statement on the last day of witness presentation!

Unfortunately for him too, the testimony of the hostile witness for defense, the Ombudsman, made an explicit presentation of his bank account transactions, which contributed to his admission that he has bank deposits in order to mitigate the damaging repercussion of the Ombudsman's revelations. In other words, Corona fell into his own (defense) trap, "hoisted with his own petard", as Shakespear may say. So much for the brilliance of the lead defense council Serafin Cuevas, a former law professor, a former SC justice himself, but still esteemed by his former students.

We are amused by the usual antics and theatrics of Senator-Judge Miriam Defensor Santiago. She, and senators Bongbong Marcos, and Joker Arroyo casted the not-guilty votes.

Thank God, the Impeachment trial hearings has ended with a judgement tomorrow!

We are relieved that the impeachement trial is soon to end with a decision expected tomorrow. Yet we are alarmed at some developments:

Rumours are circulating that defense will appeal any decision to the Supreme Court, of all places!, in case a verdict of "Guilty" will be pronounced tomorrow. This is a waste of time. Only the Senate is allowed to hold impeachment trial, its decision is final. It will provoke a real constituional crisis if Corona's camp will use the Supreme Court as a safe refuge of scalawags in government, which may include the highest officials of the land, from presidents to supreme court justices.

On the other hand, there is news that a second impeachment trial will be prepared by the lower house with lessons learned from current impeachment trial in case a verdict of "Not Guilty" will be given. We hope that the lower house will wait for a few years. This will be too much to muster for the common Filipinion people.

Give the people a break! Respect the decision of the Senator-judges!


For more informaiton.

Speech by Feliciano Belmonte, for the prosecution.

Raissa strikes again!: The Mystery of McKinley Hill purchase is slowly being solved

rappler.com: A curious set of transactions surround McKinley Hill purchase for Charina


I just read the article and I am encouraging my readers especially law students to read it too. I am still mystified by the actions of the MBA, PhD trained SC Justice. So at best we present an outline summary.

• Who owns the McKinley Hill properties?
The daughter of CJ Renato Corona holds the title to the property.
• How did Charina bought the property when she is based abroad working as a Physical Therapist?
A lawyer witness bared in the impeachment trial that on March 16, 2007, Charina had executed a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) and Declaration of Trust to her parents, Renato and Cristina to transact on her behalf. Here is a portion of her testimony: Defense lawyer Dennis Manalo: Your Honor, it is our theory that the property is in the name of Ma. Charina Corona and that the Chief Justice made the payments in trust for Ma. Charina Corona by virtue of the special power of attorney executed in his favor by the principal.
• What was startling about the Special power of Attorney?
The SPA came after downpayments!Charina's parents paying for the McKinley property nearly a year before Charina had signed the SPA and the Declaration of Trust. The buyer information sheet listed Renato and Cristina Corona as the buyer., not Charina???!! Here is the history of payments as recreated by Raissa. July 3, 2006 -- P August 8, 2006 -- P 494,016.400 Sep. 2006-August 2008 -- 57, 834.70 each month Total paid by August 29,2008: P4,858,114.8, all receipts paid to the Corona couple.
• If receipts were issued to the Corona couple, how come Charina is the owner???>
Something strange happened on September 8, 2008. The Corona couple informed Megaworld that it was their daughter who made all the payments for the lot and the title whould be issued to Charina who was given a Deed of Assignment, executed by MegaWorld, on October 3, 2008. The defense panel even presented a TCT registered in the name of Charina, who denoted her civil status as "single", a stranger fact since Raissa already knew her married status when she saw the Roseville documents.
• What is the meaning of these transactions?
If the property is owned by Charina, how come it was her parents paying for the property? Did the Corona couple donate it to their daughter? How was Corona able to pay for the periodic payments?

Conclusion: A casual review of the facts leads to
"Charina was made a dummy for her parent's real estate propert(ies}y) in particular the McKinley Hill.

Thank you Raissa Robles! The truth will out!

Raissarobles.com is showing its old 2009 page! Something is amiss

Something is amiss at www.raissarobles.com. I get this old page
on March 28 at 7:32pm.

Hope the problem is temporary. The world will know I can be more potent in political blog writing is dark forces are at work bringing down one of my favorite blogs!

Nakuryente ata tayo! It was a browser problem I think. Looking at the url address bar, it showed raissarobles.blogspot.com. Have to rest from following raissa ...

Is there an Internet "journalism" war over Raissa Robles damning revelations about Corona?

It is good that Raissa Robles, with the help of crowdsourcing, derided by the more senior Ninez Cacho Olivares as "rumor mills", was able to come out with the information that Corona's daughter solely owns a property in the state of California, USA. Chief Justice Corona, now labeled as TJ Corona (??!), firstly asserted that his family 101% does not own any property in the USA. Now he has came out admitting that his daughter, not him and his wife, indeed owns property in the USA. So Corona told a white lie, but a lie nonetheless. It would be 100% true if he has disowned his daughter.

If TJ Corona, was a public official in Europe, Japan or the USA, he would be forced to resign, but unlike these places which put a premium on the integrity of their officials( A german minister resigned over receiving FREE Airline tickets!), the Philippines is cursed of Lakasan(erring lowly govt employees get punished! while alleged crimes of high officials get ignored or even praised).

I came across the blog Danger Signs and I am amazed at the tone of the authors and commenters. There are others but I am presenting a list of articles to provide our own readers with informed opinion.

• RAISSA ROBLES STRENGTHENS CORONA DEFENSE! the gist of the article is that, yes, Corona's daughter work as a physical therapist enabled her to buy real estate property in california and the Philippines!
  
  
• ABS-CBN News positions hearsay ‘report’ from Raissa Robles as top headline, is generally dismissive of Raissa's post as 'hearsay', and non-objective.We can sense that the author did not read Raissa's original blog piece, since the allegations that the CJ owns properties there were not made by Raissa.
  
  
• Raissa Robles shoplifting allegations, this makes the libelous insinuation that raissa and other journalists, Conrado de Quiros, Ted Failon, Rene Saguisag, Willie Esposo, are biased in favour — perhaps even under the payroll — of the ruling Aquino-Cojuangco feudal clan!
  
  But it also blurted out that Raissa is a kleptomaniac and was once caught shoplifting! Interesting, where is the published news item about this? If this is untrue, the blog is resorting to black propaganda.
  

Enough at the moment, we will be back!!

temporary connection problem to raissarobles.com

I got the following error when trying to connect to raissarobles.com:

Error establishing database connection.

We hope that this is a temporary problem and secondary mirrors may be setup. We are amazed at Raissa's hard hitting articles. Now we have the Chief Justice telling a white lie, (still a lie), that his family does NOT own properties in the USA. (His use of the wordfamily only referred to himself and his wife.) Further, he said that his daughter obtained the property in California "dirt cheap" for which we are thinking, wast it "dirty money?" Not her money but someone's else like the likes of Corona?

Indeed it was temporary, I can read the page. But there are no new earthshaking stories at the moment.

Impeachment court may ignore CJ alleged US properties at its peril.

Click on
Impeach court to ignore CJ's alleged US properties

Some of the senator judges will run for re-election next year. And public perception is important. If Corona can go away scot-free on his well crafted hidden wealth, the impeachment court will be on trial by the public itself for allowing technicalities to dominate the legal proceedings.

Yet, events may catch up on Corona, already, students are calling for his resignation which he should have done long before. The tactics employed by his defense panel not only punched holes of illogic in his justification of events, but already exposed Corona as a liar. Did he not say he stayed out of her wife's business concerns? Where did Corona get his funds for the hidden dollar deposits? And how much? Worse even the former mayor of Manila Lito Atienza has been exposed as a bumbling city executive, believing so much on a more then ten years power of attorney document! Where did the greater than 40 million pesos of Basa-Guidote Enterprises go? The defense panel and Corona has commited a lapse of moral judgement by trying to balance all the costs of the real estate investments of the Chief Justice.

I think it is high time that the silent majority should be more insistent on a morally and upright administration of public functions, including the Supreme Court. Corona should not feel lucky the Lent season is just over the corner. He has a lot of explaining to do. The most appropriate time to come clean is not on the day of resumption of the trial but NOW!!! Either way, Corona has succeeded of instilling a culture of big time corruption (if the money is really from BGEI, he should be charged with estafa, the city of Manila could have just expropriate the BGEI lot, intead, paying for more than what it is worth

We feel sorry for the lowly government workers who were stripped of their government posts just on mistakes in filling the SALN. We are sorry, not because of their punishments, we are sorry that justice in the philippines is twisted in favor of powerful men of the likes of Renato C. Corona, an Ateneo graduate, with false academic honors, with an MBA and PhD degree in law. A man NOT for all seasons, a man NOT for others, but a man for HIMSELF and FAMILY. He can take his "achievements" and "honors" to hell.

Exposed??!! Does Corona have properties in the good old U.S.A.?

Another astounding explosive investigative article from raissarobles.com

The supreme court Chief Justice wont find the summer break peaceful for him. Recent developments has unmasked that a certain
Renato C. Corona has properties in Tampa, Florida and is related to people with same names as his wife and children.


This only shows that private investigators are a lot smarter than the public prosecutors we pay via our hard earned tax money!

Here is the link: Does Renato Corona have a clone living in the US

We are praying that Corona will NOT be pressured too much during the Lente and summer break as to do an Angelo Reyes act. The late Mr. Angelo Reyes still had a sense of honor!

The pressure is indeed piling up on him, courtesy of the crafty methods of his defense panel which opened avenues not only to the opposition but to the general Juan Q Public about his sense of national service and ethics. If the expose' is true, then Corona is cooked! He is supposed to be an honest man, any foreign holdings(assets) should be also in his SALn.

Graduates of Ateneo have a motto to be a man others, and a man for all seasons, Corona follows a special different motto: A man for himself. If he had any active gray matter left, the sensible thing is to resign!

Thanks to Raissa, and also Rappler, the nation will extend gratitude to their selfless service of exposing what kind of man Corona is.

We are waiting for the results of the prosecution promise of digging up records of assets in the home province of Batangas of the Chief Justice.

We hope that the lowly government employee of Davao kicked out of the judiciary for not entering a market stall asset will have a belated justice.

We hope that the Basa-Guidote family will also obtain belated justive from the actuations of their black-sheep family member, the wife of Renato C. Corona.

We hope that COA will be given teeth in exposing irregularities as was done in the Manila City Hall-Cristina Corona transaction.

Disclaimer, added March 25, 2012:


Raissa did NOT claim that Corona owned the properties in the addresses mentioned. She was only interested why the name of Corona appears in documents and wants to discover the trail of relationships connecting CJ Corona to the properties.

Reading lists: Is Corona telling the truth?

We gather for documentary historical purposes the following news items which should give us a clearer picture on the Corona Impeachment Trial.

• rappler.com, march 16: Corona negotiated for guidote-basa property. Corona claims he has nothing to do with his wife's corporation properties.
  
  
• abs-cbn, march 17: Corona worth 80 million Chief Justice Renato Corona's could be worth at least P80 million, which is way higher than what he has declared in his statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALNs) through the years, the prosecution said on Friday.
  
  
• Ombudsman asks AMLC for Corona’s bank records Ellen Tordesillas reports that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for a copy of the records of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s bank deposits, including dollar accounts that are the subject of a temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court.
  
  
• abs-cbnnews,march 18:Defense to present SALN samples, character evidence?
  
  
• abs-cbnnews, march 18:CJ should be ‘whiter than white’ - prosecution
  
  
• abs-cbn, march 16:Defense sees no reason for Corona to testify
  
  
• abs-cbn, march 16: Even PNoy's men violate SALN law - CJ defense
  
  
• philstar, march 19: Supreme Court: No double standard in trial witnesses
  
  
• philstar, march 19:Defense lines up more witnesses
  
  
• inquirer.net, march 19: Enrile tells defense: Explain Corona deposits
  

Two developments showing Corona is very unfit to be Chief Justice.

The first item is rapplers.com explosive article that Corona embellished his resume, especially on getting awards in his educational background.


This shows the exttent of sheer dishonesty of Renato Corona to get what he wants, by resorting to lies and fantasy, about his supposed academic honors during his grade school up to law school years in Ateneo.

For full details, please click on Corona lied about academic honors?

Hey a lot of prospective employees, including public officials abroad get caught and are kicked out of institutions, including a Thai minister who said he obtained a degree in some Republic School.


The second item bordering on disgust, is Cuevas of the defense panel claiming it was NOT Renato Corona who prepared his SALN reports. Really, the impeachment court hearings have shown Corona to be a self-centered person intent on magnifying his own wealth by claiming so much allowances and emoluments. Corona is simply responsible for the preparation of his SALN no matter who performs it. He is simply evading responsibility on so an important document, a document established by taxing offices precisely to avoid graft and corruption, and obtaining illegal gotten wealth.

Corona has no more integrity and has been exposed indirectly by even his disarming defense panel( if you think Cuevas is cute) and a parade of witnesses.

It is time for him to resign before the people gets tired of the devious legal means (like having secret dollar bank accounts.)

We dare the impeachment court to open even without the permission of Corona, since the bank secrecy laws apply only to foreigners. Do the impeachment court believe that Corona is a foreigner? The world wonders!

Corona is in the Supreme Court for the Money, a viewer's conclusion

Draft post, subject to frequent revision/editing until this notice is removed!


We are amazed in watching television, the parade of defense panel witnesses to make statements that Corona is using his position to amass wealth by taking a lot of money in terms of allowances, since these are NOT subject to withholding tax. He is in the SC for taking in money for SC expense accounts without nary presenting expense receipts for liquidation. The picture emerges that Corona will prefer expenses and allowances that do not entail income tax, say representation alllowances say in the HRET tribunal, and these funds treated like a personal piggy bank need not be liquidated.

Also from the mouth of Cuevas, the reason Corona did not report his dollar accounts in his SALN is that it is protected by dollar account confidentiality laws! (only foreigners should enjoy this privilege). In other words, his honor is just in the Supreme Court for the MONEY, and knows how to hide in legalistic way illegally gotten wealth! Smart but evil, this former banker Corona!

Lets give a dose of Corona brand of justice to himself. Remember he was the ponente of some rulings sending LOWLY government employees to jail because of DISHONEST SALN reports.

Open Dollar Accounts! Religious leaders demands.

The law on dollar accounts secrecy applies only to foreigners to encourage investing in the Philippines, and this does not apply to Chief Justice Corona, who is being subject to impeachment. The law requires a written permission from the depositor(Corona) for the information to be divulged. We see that Corona, who has an MBA and once worked in a bank, uses the banking system for hiding his wealth from the PUBLIC.

A group calling itself, Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines has come out in the open urging the impeached Chief Justice Corona to open his dollar accounts.

We dont know much about this group. But you can visit its web site at http://amrsp.org

This follows on the earlier call for the same demand by bishops.

We hope that the growing clamor will force the Chief Justice to REALIZE that he has lost on the Filipino PUBLIC, who did NOT vote for him, but was appointed by a president GMA who has dirtied her hands on so MANY Corruption and Bribery, ELECTIONEERING cases. Corona is now eating the fruits of his blind obedience to a president, whom history will judge a corrupt one. And Corona has become corrupt ALSO.


Further reading:
Open dollar accounts, Corona urged

Bishops call on Corona to open bank accounts

Corona is blocking the quest for truth!

If Corona has nothing to hide, then he should have his dollar accounts information open to the public. Just the starting and ending balances should be enough to satisfy the growing din for more upfront transparency from the Chief Justice. He is now blocking the search for Truth!

Were if not for this impeachment trial, we would not have known how rich Corona has become. He trusted that an Supreme Court internal memo created in 1989 would have shielded him. But the hiding of SALN records from the public violates in spirit the Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials. Let us not forget that Corona has exerted efforts via recommendations or being the ponente in some cases of removal from government service lower ranking public servants due to inaccurate SALN filing!


Corona has been forced, by less fortuitous turn of event to face the fact that his SALNs have been divulged in the Senate by a fearful Clerk of Court, exposing him to charges of gross DISHONESTY.

Now what remains for the prosecution panel in tackling Article 2, is the opening of his supersecret dollar accounts. As we understand it, the law was meant for foreigners to invest their dollars in the Philippines not for a native Filipino like Corona to hide his hidden wealth!

In spite of this private and secret dollar hoard,this fact is PROOF enough that by his sheer gross dishonesty by Corona, displayed for all to see in his SALNs, should be SUFFICIENT to declare him guilty of loss of public trust, and hidden wealth.

Simple corrections to the SALNs is closed to Corona for the simple reason the Supreme Court never gave a chance to people convicted of filing false SALNs.

Is the Supreme Court a playground for a bully like Estelito Mendoza?

Our curiosity was aroused by this snippet on the flip-flopping case, re PAL vs flight attendants. See Rappler.com:Did Corona particpate in the FASAP case?


The SC decision came after Philippine Airlines management lawyer Estelito Mendoza wrote the Court 4 times in 2011. Mendoza questioned why the second division issued a decision on the case when it was the third division that handled previous pleadings related to the legal dispute.


Just this??!!!, and SC stoops down to reconsider(flip-flop)? Of course, Estelito Mendoza knows the behavior of the Supreme Court during his time as Solicitor-General in the Marcos era.

The ten-million peso problem: Will Senator-judges allow opening of bank accounts of CJ Corona?

Of course, personal bank accounts are very private and account numbers, transaction records, and even balances should not be made known to anyone else, as they may subject the owner to unnecessary threats or dangers from criminals.

But bank secrecy laws do not normally apply to litigation cases! And we do have a case here. It sounds like a fishing expedition to the defense panel, but take note that CJ Corona won a 1 million peso raffle, and the stunning costs of his real estate investments, should be backed up by bank records.

But this is also a damn it if there is small cash entries/balance and damn it if there is a big cash entries/balance in his accounts.

It the accounts listed are small, then Corona is guilty of graft for accumulating more than what he can afford. If the accounts listed are too large, then Corona is guilty of non-disclosure of assets. Either way he is fried in the oil of his own words:

The fact remains that at the heart of our sovereign mandate is the people’s trust in the courts. The people’s trust, however, is not confined to physical infrastructure. Improving human infrastructure is essential in maintaining integrity which in the final analysis gives us the right to judge. Hence, corruption in the judiciary, whether real or perceived, is particularly insidious and reprehensible.


A corrupt judiciary is totally unacceptable as it severely handicaps the legal and institutional mechanism designed to curb abuses in government. As such we shall continuously cleanse the court’s ranks by strengthening the integrity of the judiciary and raising it to the highest level possible. I believe that a member of the judiciary who is found guilty of dishonesty should not only be dismissed from the service but also disbarred. No ifs, no buts.


The ten-million peso in the title is an allusion to the cost incurred for holding the trial. Hope it is worth it, and the Senate, Congress, and judges/lawyers will learn much from this trial.

Corona knew what he was doing in filing his SALNs!

Raissa Robles' latest article
Corona’s “not intentional” mistakes in his SALNs

The above article is again an eye-opener, and describe the educational and previous work/employment background of the Chief Justice Renato Corona:

1. Corona has an MBA degree from Ateneo de Manila University, and Master of Laws degree from Harvard, and a PhD degree(without dissertation) from the University of Santo Tomas.
   
   
2. Corona wrote on tax and commercial law issues for his column “Tax Corner” in the Manila Chronicle many years back!
   
   
3. His work experiences:
   
   1. Worked as a lawyer for the Development Bank of the Philippines.
      
      
   2. Worked as senior vice-president and general counsel of the Commercial Bank of Manila.
      
      
   3. Worked as a senior officer of the Tax and Corporate Counseling Group of the Tax Division of Sycip Gorres and Velayo (SGV & Co).
      

Raissa reminds us that

One can safely assume that CJ Corona knows what the word “cash advance” means. He knows all about and can distinguish the assessed value, fair market value and the acquisition cost of real properties. He knows all about the life and death of corporations. In fact, the proof of his knowledge on these subjects stare us right in the face. He was the ponente or the magistrate who penned that very thorough ruling on why the Marcos wealth was both ill-gotten and unexplained. That particular ruling demonstrated CJ Corona’s absolute mastery of the SALN and income tax returns (ITRs).

And Raissa let us also hear again the words of a speech of Chief Justice Corona:

The fact remains that at the heart of our sovereign mandate is the people’s trust in the courts. The people’s trust, however, is not confined to physical infrastructure. Improving human infrastructure is essential in maintaining integrity which in the final analysis gives us the right to judge. Hence, corruption in the judiciary, whether real or perceived, is particularly insidious and reprehensible.

A corrupt judiciary is totally unacceptable as it severely handicaps the legal and institutional mechanism designed to curb abuses in government. As such we shall continuously cleanse the court’s ranks by strengthening the integrity of the judiciary and raising it to the highest level possible. I believe that a member of the judiciary who is found guilty of dishonesty should not only be dismissed from the service but also disbarred. No ifs, no buts.

So any discrepancies of filing his SALNs and ITRs were intentional! The Prosecution should be prepared to use this knowledge of the background of Corona, including his speeches when discussing the SALNs next time.

Let Corona be hoisted in his own petard of public legal pronouncements and knowledge of financial matters, including taxes and SALNs.

Dishonesty in public service, a lesson for Chief Justice Corona

Click on

Inquirer.net, 3 feb 2012,5:34 am : Dishonesty enough to convict Corona, says prosecution


We wish to emphasize the following excerpts:


Quezon Representative Erin Tañada, another deputy spokesperson of the prosecution, said the Supreme Court did not consider dishonesty a petty crime when it upheld the dismissal from office of a Bureau of Internal Revenue executive in a 2008 decision.

The executive was found to have accumulated properties and investments grossly disproportionate to her income and earning capacity as a government employee, and not disclosing these in her SALNs.

Tañada said the high court, in the case of Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Peliño, ruled that “dishonesty is classified as a grave offense the penalty of which is dismissal from service at the first instance.”

“So if someone of a lower level can be dismissed on the basis of dishonesty, what more the top magistrate of the Supreme Cour?” he pointed out.

We agree with the prosecution panel on this one. Let us save the people's millions of the people's tax money on continuing the impeachment trial. Let Chief Justice Corona begone!

If it is not unexplained wealth, then what it is?

From Rappler:

A very surprisingly vocal Sen. Lito Lapid figured in the following exhange this afternoon:



"Hindi na siguro kung mahalaga kung nagsarado ang kumpanaya o hindi. Nangutang ba?" Lapid asked Umali. "Kanina pa kayo tanong nang tanong, isang oras na tayo dito, yun lang pala gusto niyong palabasin kung inutang, in-advance o ni-loan?" an exasperated Lapid said.

But Lapid's line of questioning revealed where the prosecution was apparently headed: to tackle evidence of Corona's alleged ill-gotten wealth.

"Cristina engaged in real business pero wala naman pong record sa SEC, BIR at lahat. Ito po ay nakapagtataka kung saan nanggaling ito. Ito po tinatanong namin, ini-establish namin, ito po ay unexplained wealth," Umali explained to Lapid.


But defense lead counsel Serafin Cuevas was quick to object. "There is a resolution of this court - both verbal and written - denying prosecution from presenting evidence of unexplained wealth."

Enrile reminded the prosecution to adhere to the rules of the impeachment court.

"I caution everybody to respect the rulings of this court. We have already ruled that paragraph 2.4 is not permissible to receive any proof. Kindly adhere to the rules of this court," Enrile ordered, banging his gavel. -

In spite of the fact that Sec. 2.4 was stricken out of consideration by the Impeachment Court, enticing proofs of ill gotten wealth rears its ugly head and appear from time to time in the technicality minded Impeachment Court.

The Court is giving itself a dilemma: If it is not unexplained wealth, then what it is?!!!

The world wonders!!!