Published by Philippine News Agency“Nakaka-lula (mind-boggling)!â€
That is how the House prosecution panel described the dollar accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona as testified by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales Monday on Day 37 of the impeachment trial of the chief magistrate.
Morales had earlier testified to the Senate impeachment court that based on the report given to her by the government’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the Chief Justice has more than USD 10-million worth of deposits in 82 dollar accounts.
According to the AMLC report, Morales said Corona’s dollar accounts were spread in various banks in the country — eight accounts in the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in Acropolis, San Juan; 18 accounts in BP1-Tandang Sora; 34 in San Francisco del Monte; one in BPI Management Investment Corp.; eight in Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) in Cainta; six in PSBank Katipunan; four in Allied Bank Corp.; one in Citibank; and two in Deutsche Bank.
Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin†Tañada said that although they had known as early as January this year that Corona had several dollar accounts, it was not in this magnitude.
“The Ombudsman’s testimony just confirmed the fact that the Chief Justice has dollar accounts. What was surprising was the amount involved – USD 12 million, not including the peso deposits which we do not know how much really is involved,†he said while stressing the fact that all those amounts were not included in the statement of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) of Corona.
Meanwhile, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny†Angara noted how Corona had only one dollar account in 2003 that ballooned to 82 dollar accounts by 2012 and again urged the Chief Justice to testify before the impeachment court.
“Corona has got a lot of explaining to do. Now is the right to come out and explain what needed to be explained to the people,†Angara said.
For his part, Marikina Rep. Romero “Miiro†Quimbo said that they could not really understand the defense camp’s move to bring in as hostile witness the very person who could unlock the things that have been locked for so long a time that the prosecution had a hard time unlocking.
“We were frankly surprised by their move to bring in as witness the one person who would do the most damage to their position. The Ombudsman had practically opened cans of worms that are worst than what we had previously expected,†he said.
â€Her testimony was very damaging,†Quimbo added.
Meanwhile, Angara said that the Ombudsman’s testimony is a watershed in the fight against corruption in high places.
“In the recent past, the Office of the Ombudsman had been reluctant to use its powers against high officials of the land,†he said.
“For the first time, we now see the awesome powers of the Ombudsman being used as the main instrument against corruption. We must look at it in the context of a fledgling democracy that is in the process of developing our institutions. We could look at this development as the turning point in our history in the fight against corruption,†Angara said.
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