A House prosecutor on Thursday urged Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to find out whether Chief Justice Renato Corona got his alleged multimillion bank deposits from former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

 

In a statement, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said the Ombudsman should not stop at determining the amount of Corona’s supposed unexplained wealth, and instead should probe the sources of these funds.

 

“The Ombudsman should follow through with her investigation. As for the sources of the funds, another glaring question is: Did they come from Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” Colmenares said.

 

GMA News Online has contacted Mrs. Arroyo’s chief of staff, Elena Bautista-Horn, for her comment, but she has not replied as of posting time.

Ties between Arroyo, Corona

 

The former President, who now represents Pampanga's second district in the House of Representatives, is currently detained on poll sabotage charges. Mrs. Arroyo appointed Corona as Supreme Court (SC) associate justice in 2002, and as chief justice in 2010.

Corona also served as Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesperson and chief of staff before his stint at the high court.

On Wednesday, a panel of investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman said in a report released to the media that Corona may have accumulated over P677 million in unexplained wealth as a member of the SC. 

 

In her testimony in Corona’s impeachment trial, Carpio said that Corona made “significant” dollar transactions during the 2004 and 2007 elections. Mrs. Arroyo won as president during the 2004 polls.

Not the prosecution’s concern

 

Meanwhile, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, prosecution spokesperson, said the sources of Corona’s bank deposits is already beyond the panel’s concern.

 

“For our purposes, palagay naming labas na ‘yun sa aming responsibilidad dito sa impeachment court,” Angara said in a separate press briefing.

 

He, however, described the sources of Corona’s bank deposits as “a proverbial gold mine, ready to be mined by a curious public.”

 

“Maraming interesting issues ang nabuksan sa testimonya ng ating Ombudsman… We leave it to future generations to see and study,” he said.

 

The Senate impeachment trial will resume next Tuesday, when Corona is expected to shed light on allegations that he did not declare certain assets, including several bank deposits, in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth. — RSJ, GMA News