Prosecution asks Senate to summon BPI exec to Corona trial

The prosecution on Tuesday asked the Senate impeachment court to summon the manager of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) to testify on Chief Justice Renato Corona’s bank account. The request for the issuance of subpoena, signed by lead prosecutor Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., also asked the Senate to summon the following documents:

• original and certified true copies of the Corona’s account opening form,
• monthly bank statements from January 2005 to December 2010, and December 2011 of Bank Account No. 1443-8030-61 owned by Corona, and
• other accounts in the name of Renato Corona and his wife, Cristina.

The prosecution said the bank executive will testify to support allegations under Article II of the impeachment complaint accusings Corona of failure to properly disclose all his assets in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).   The prosecution filed last week a motion to subpoena documents on Corona’s accounts from five separate banks, but chose to withdraw it after the Senate disallowed the presentation of evidence to support a paragraph in the impeachment complaint, which accuses the chief justice of “keeping bank accounts with huge deposits.”   In a statement issued earlier in the day, Tupas said the prosecution considered reviving this motion after real property developers who testified in the impeachment trial said Corona paid for his posh condominium units in cash. — KBK, GMA News