2 prospective witnesses admit having no personal knowledge on Corona dollar accounts

Two prospective hostile witnesses for the defense in Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial on Wednesday admitted to having no personal knowledge on the chief magistrate’s alleged $10-million deposits.

 

Former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros said the letter-complaint she and four others filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on Corona’s alleged dollar accounts was only based on pieces of evidence already presented before the impeachment court.

 

“Hindi ko rin actually maintindihan kung bakit kailangan pa kami mauna mag-testify bago si Chief Justice Corona... ‘Yung mga ebidensya naman sa letter-complaint namin sa Ombudsman ay lumabas na sa impeachment trial,” Hontiveros said in a press briefing in San Juan.

 

She added that she does not know how the Ombudsman came up with the $10-million figure, since her complaint-letter only contained evidence on Corona’s alleged $2-million deposits, as already presented before the Senate.

 

Jess Lorenzo, spokesperson for civil society leader Harvey Keh, meanwhile, said that Keh is “not sure of the authenticity of the documents” on Corona’s supposed foreign currency deposits he submitted earlier to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s office.

 

Hontiveros and Keh were among the five personalities summoned on Wednesday by the impeachment court as the defense camp’s hostile witnesses to talk about Corona’s alleged $10-million bank accounts. 

 

Both personalities, however, expressed willingness to obey the Senate impeachment court’s summons.

 

“Sino ba naman kami kumpara sa Senado?... Hopefully, mabigyan na ng closure lahat ng ito,” Hontiveros said.

 

Lawyer: Ombudsman’s testimony enough

 

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal, for his part, said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales’ testimony will already be sufficient if the Senate impeachment court wants to tackle Corona’s alleged dollar accounts.

 

“Hindi naman na kailangan mag-testify noong iba. Wala naman silang personal knowledge. Kahit tanungin sila kung totoo o hindi totoo ang dollar accounts, hindi naman nila alam,” Macalintal said in the same press briefing.

 

He added that Morales is the only person who can explain the $10-million figure, since her office was the one who conducted the probe on Corona’s dollar deposits.

 

“Si Ombudsman lamang ang puwedeng mag-testify na mayroon ngang dollar accounts. Para mabilis ang paglilitis, siya na lang dapat. Nasa kanya na rin naman ang mga dokumentong sinubmit noong iba,” he said.

 

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, one of the House prosecutors, also agreed that summoning nine other hostile witnesses to the impeachment proceedings will only delay the trial.

 

“After the sudden tactic of the prosecution to stipulate and admit the irrelevant testimonies of their witnesses, the defense suddenly asks for a postponement and delay the trial by not only calling for 11 more witnesses but also refusing to present the witnesses they have previously summoned,” he said in a separate statement.

 

“They [The defense lawyers] were obviously caught by surprise and are obviously trying to delay the trial,” he added.

 

Corona’s impeachment trial at the Senate will resume on Monday, when the defense is expected to start presenting hostile witnesses on Corona’s $10-million deposits. –KG, GMA News