Corona: Four dollar accounts and three peso accounts not in SALN

By ANDREO CALONZO and KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA News

Published May 22, 2012 3:49pm

Taking the witness stand at his own impeachment trial for the first time, Chief Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday said his family invested in foreign exchange after his wife’s feud with her relatives over the family firm, Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI).

“Wala kaming hilig mag-invest sa properties. Ini-invest namin ang aming resources sa foreign exchange,” Corona revealed in his opening statement at the trial.

Corona is facing charges of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for failure to properly disclose the extent of his properties in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Copies of his SALN during his tenure at the high court did not contain any dollar accounts.

Last week, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales had testified as a hostile witness at the trial that Corona had at least $12 million in fresh deposits in 82 accounts in several banks, based on information acquired from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). In his testimony, Corona disputed the presentation of Morales. "That is a malicious lie. I do not have 82 dollar accounts as charged by the Ombdusman. The alleged AMLC report itself, contrary to the Ombudsman's misleading presentation, will show that there are only four dollar accounts [as of] December 2012," he said.

"Malayong-malayo [din] sa sinasabi niyang $10 to $12 million na nasa apat na accounts lamang, hindi 82," he added.

The chief justice said he only one dollar account with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) San Francisco del Monte branch, one dollar account with Allied Bank, and two dollar accounts with the Philippine Savings Bank.

He said they used the accounts to save their dollars, which he said the family started collecting since the late 1960s when the dollar exchange rate was almost 2:1.

"Bakit sa US dollar? Sapagkat dahil wala po kayong lugi sa US dollar...at di naman po kami nagkakamali, tumalon na up to 7 times sa pagkabili namin halos 40 years ago," he said. Dollar accounts not in SALN

Corona explained that he did not declare the dollar accounts in his SALN because it was his understanding that these are covered by Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.

"Ang pagkakaintindi ko po sa ay di kailangan ideklara ang US dollars...this is an absolute rule," he said.

"Sinasabi ko po sa inyo at tumitingin ako sa mga mata ninyo, wala po akong tinago. Sapagkat kung ako ay may tinago di ko po ilalagay sa pangalan ko," he said.

"Certainly I should not and cannot be penalized for abiding and relying on the letter of the law. The inaccuracies in my SALN do not constitute an impeachable offense," he added.

Basa family feud

Corona said his family started investing in foreign exchange following a feud in his wife’s family, which has been discussed in the impeachment trial in relation to an entry in his SALN. Corona said the feud started when his deceased uncle-in-law, Jose Maria Basa III, made a move to transfer a family property near Libis in Quezon City under his name.

“Ang problema sa pamilya nila ay napakayamang pamilya pero ang kanilang ari-arian, nakatali sa property. Alam naman po nating mga abugado na kapag kayo ay nagpamana ng property, maraming beses, nag-aaway,” he said.

He described his deceased uncle-in-law as a “spoiled brat” who never had to work all his life.

“Hindi po si Mr. Basa ang inapi. Siya po ang nang-api sa aking mother-in-law,” he said, referring to his wife’s deceased mother and Basa's sister, Asuncion.

While narrating the family feud, members of the Basa family — including Cristina’s cousin Ana — were seen crying in the Senate gallery. [See the Basa family tree here.]

In his SALN, Corona had declared a loan of P11 million from the BGEI.

Earlier, former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza had testified that the city sold a parcel of land to the BGEI for P34 million. The defense said this amount was later transferred to Corona’s bank account. Undeclared peso accounts

Corona said one of his three pesos accounts contains proceeds from the expropriation of the Basa-Guidote's properties, which has earned interest through the years.

The chief justice stressed that he only has three peso bank accounts and not 31, as reported by the Ombudsman last week.

He explained that these accounts were not declared in his SALN because these were commingled funds that are owned by several people.

Corona said one of the accounts contains funds left by his mother, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1990. He said his mother gave him control of the funds, which are meant to be used for her medical needs and other emergency purposes.

He said another account contained the money of his children, specifically Charina, who was saving up to build a house in her McKinley property. In an emotional speech before the impeachment court, Corona asserted that all the properties of the family came from their hard work for more than 40 years and not from any wrongdoing. "Wala akong kasalanan," Corona said.

"Ang lahat po ng nasa amin ay nanggaling sa mabuting paraan at wala po akong ninakaw sa gobyerno kahit isang kusing. Wala po ako ninakaw sa gobyerno kahit isang pera. Malinis po ang lahat ng aming pinag-ipunan noong kami ay nasa pribadong sektor pa," he added. — RSJ/YA/HS, GMA News

Tags: renatocorona, coronaimpeachment,