Corona on why he closed accounts on day he was impeached: We lost faith in bank

Chief Justice Renato Corona on Wednesday finally broke his silence on why he decided to withdraw more than P30 million from three accounts with the Philippine Savings Bank on the day he was impeached December 12 last year. In an interview with GMA News' "Unang Hirit," the embattled chief magistrate said his family had already lost their confidence in the bank after learning that it was leaking his bank account records. "Ang dahilan niyan, nawalan na kami ng tiwala sa bangko, dahil alam namin na doon nanggaling ang leak," Corona said. In a short response on the same day, PSBank said it has "successfully maintained the confidence of all its depositors including its most high-profile customers for the past 52 years." In the same television interview, Corona said as early as November last year, he had been hearing – from people he knew who are also PSBank clients – that the bank had been giving away information about his accounts, including its branch manager. "November pa lang ikinukuwento na raw na 'Si ano pinag-uusapan yung account ni ano'... Teka muna, napag-uusapan namin ng misis ko bakit... Ang kwento sa amin pati ang branch manager ang nagkukuwento," he said. The Katipunan branch manager of PSBank where Corona had accounts, Annabelle Tiongson, earlier told the Senate impeachment court that the "leaked" documents on Corona's bank accounts did not come from their branch. Corona said his camp was certain the leaked documents could have only come from that Quezon City branch; however they have yet to pinpoint who leaked these. On the other hand, Corona reiterated his lawyers' earlier statement that the money in the three closed PSBank accounts did not belong to him but to his wife Cristina's family firm, Basa-Guidote Enterprises (BGE) Inc. "Ang perang iyon ay pinagbentahan ng lupa... Hindi lang iyon ang depensa namin, iyon ang katotohonan. Sa korporasyon iyon [ng aking asawa]," he said. Breakdown The first of two accounts closed on Dec.12, 2011 was No. 089-121019523, which was opened on Dec. 22, 2009 with an opening balance of P8.5 million.   The second account was opened on Sept. 1, 2010 with an opening balance of P7,090,099.45.   These accounts, along with three other time deposit accounts, were covered by a Senate subpoena.   PSBank president Pascual Garcia III took the witness stand and spoke of a third account that was not covered by the subpoena – but was also closed on Dec. 12. This account had an opening balance of P17 million, Garcia said. Defense lawyer and spokesman Tranquil Salvador III in a briefing at the Senate in February admitted that the Corona family decided to withdraw the money in the accounts after the magistrate was impeached to prevent the public from thinking that the money was Mr. Corona's. Also asked why Mr. Corona placed the accounts under his name, Salvador said the money is currently the subject of a "family dispute" between Mrs. Corona and her relatives, and that placing the accounts under his name could help the Corona family "protect" their stake at BGE Inc. Cristina's cousin Anna Basa has claimed in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the Corona family had "oppressed" her family just so they could gain full control of the BGEI. Anna is one of the nine children of the late Jose Ma. Basa, Cristina's uncle and one of the original incorporators of the BGEI. In a text message to GMA News Online on Tuesday, Corona branded Anna's accusations as lies. — LBG/HS, GMA News