Palace to Corona: What PNoy psychological records?

What psychological records? On this note, Malacañang on Saturday rebuffed impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s challenge to President Benigno Aquino III to disclose his psychological records along with his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). In an interview on government-run dzRB radio, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte insisted the supposed records on Aquino’s alleged mental health simply do not exist. “Alam ninyo, hindi ito bumenta noong 2010 at di yan bebenta ngayon... Kahit kumakandidato ang Sen. Aquino sa pagkapangulo walang naniwala riyan, walang maniniwala ngayon," she said. (You know, that bogey about his psychological records came out when he was then a senator running for president in 2010. No one believed it then, no one will believe it now.) Asked if this means Malacañang will not accept the challenge, Valte said, “Matagal nang nasagot iyan, nilako ang istorya, walang bumili.” On the other hand, Valte hinted Aquino will continue to speak on the impeachment case as he pleases, to “simplify” the issue. “What you have to understand about the president, he is a very frank person; he will not hesitate to simplify issues when he feels one side is already doing legal cartwheels to [twist] and confuse the evidence already coming out,” she said. Corona on Friday dared Aquino to make public his SALN and psychological records, a day after Aquino challenged Corona to disclose his dollar accounts for public scrutiny. The impeached chief justice also said Aquino should not meddle in the Senate impeachment trial, and scolded him for supposedly telling college students to make a judgment without getting all the facts of the case. As for the SALN, Valte said Aquino allows his SALN to be made public every year. “Nagre-release kami ng SALN, baka hindi nakikita pero na-print yan sa diyaryo, pinaguusapan sa radio, napapanood sa TV. Hindi ko alam anong dare-dare na ilabas ang SALN," she said. Valte also downplayed a reported assessment by economist Solita Monsod that Aquino’s SALN may be full of holes. She said the holes Monsod may have been referring to is the value of the Aquino property on Times Street in Quezon City. Valte said that when Aquino’s father Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. died in 1983, the property was shared among his then widow Corazon and their children. When Mrs. Aquino died in 2009, the children’s share grew, but in 2010, Valte said Aquino’s siblings waived their shares in favor of the incumbent president. “Ngayon siya ang may-ari ng buong propery. Una maliit ang valuation dahil yan ang valuation ng share niya, so walang under-declaration diyan (Now the president is the owner of the entire property. Before, the valuation was small because he had a smaller share),” Valte said. ‘Insult’ Valte claimed Corona’s dare for Aquino to disclose his psychological records was an “insult” to everyone, including the media, since there are no psychological records. She said that while supposed records surfaced during the 2010 presidential campaign, those whose “signatures” appeared on the records disowned them. “There are none, puro fake ang inankla ng istorya nila (There are no such records. All that yarn about psychological records are based on fakes),” she said. Prosecutors’ fault? Valte said it is not the fault of prosecutors from the House of Representatives that Aquino came out to talk about the issue. “The President felt the issue was being sidetracked, and we needed to get back to the real issue,” she said. When told that critics had questioned Aquino's public statements on the merits of the case, Valte said everyone should talk about the merits of the case. “Yan ang dapat natin pinag-uusapan, ang mga nanonood ang nagmamasid hindi ang suot nitong abogadong ito o mukha ng prosecutor, yan ang pinag-uusapan because that is the meat of the case," she added. — LBG/HS, GMA News