Defense says 'Renato C. Corona' linked to US properties is namesake

Apart from being accused of owning controversial properties all over Metro Manila, could embattled Chief Justice Renato Corona also have acquired properties halfway around the world, in the United States?   In a blog post on Saturday, journalist Raissa Robles cited US public records showing a certain "Renato C. Corona" being linked to at least two properties, one in Tampa, Florida and the other in  Mountain View, California, the latter an upscale community in the heart of Silicon Valley and the headquarters of Google.  

Robles only identified the source of her tip as a certain "Yvonne," who searched the chief magistrate's name on PeopleSmart and Intelius.   A background report included in the documents also shows the "Renato C. Corona" as being 63 years old, which is the same age as the Chief Justice.   "No, I’m not saying that CJ Corona OWNS Bayshore or has a house in Mountain View. Heavens, no," Robles said. "I’m only saying that a certain Renato C. Corona is being linked somehow to these two addresses by US public records."   The same documents also identified Charina R. Corona, Cristina R. Corona, Carla Corona, and Francis R. Corona as "possible relatives" of the "Renato C. Corona" in the US records. These incidentally are the same names of the chief magistrate's wife and three children.   Robles said she did her own research on myLife.com and got the same results.   She added that when she called the number listed under the "Renato C. Corona," she got a recorded message saying the number was non-operational.   Namesake?   Quickly reacting to the report, defense lawyers of Corona in the impeachment trial dismissed insinuations that he owned the US properties.   "We flatly deny the report," Ramon Esguerra, who is a defense a spokesman as well, told GMA News Online in a text message on Saturday.   Another spokesperson, Tranquil Salvador III, in a separate message to GMA News Online said: "I suggest that you check the real identity of the owner [of the US properties] because the CJ (chief justice) may have namesakes in that part of the world."   Wealthy community   In her blog post, Robles said she asked an American friend about the properties and her friend told her "Mountain View was the home of Google and was a very wealthy community with expensive real estate."   Robles said a certain "Buddy Gomez" wrote to her to express a similar curiosity about the Corona-related properties in the US. Buddy Gomez is the same name as a former official in the Cory Aquino administration.   Gomez said that while the Coronas do not have properties registered under their names in the said areas in the US, the "Renato C. Corona" "has lived" in the Tampa, Florida property.   Comments on Roble's blogsite started flooding in, with some of them even helping out the journalist in researching the issue.   "What about checking out Melissa Marie Greene, the renter at the address in Florida? Perhaps she can give us some clues…. who is the landlord, etc," said commenter "Chit Navarro."   One commenter even tried looking the phone number indicated in the documents. Another one, "Masha," checked with the Hillsborough County appraiser website and found that the Tampa, Florida property belonged to a certain "Venerando Batas."   Commenter "Andrew Lim," for his part said: "Regardless of how these fact-finding activities turn out, it should warn all future grafters and corrupt officials that we have an army of citizen volunteers/sleuths who will do their darn best to ferret out the truth. Beware!"   Other commenters tried shooting down Robles' report, saying it might just have been "kuryente," a term used by Filipino journalists  to refer to a false story, a planted story, or a story that ends up  based on wrong information.   Robles posted a succinct reply to the commenter: "See where this will lead to." 'Small lady'