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Sandiganbayan dismisses perjury, ethics violation cases vs. Renato Corona


The Sandiganbayan on Wednesday dismissed the perjury and violation of the code of conduct cases against the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona on the ground of his death.

In a hearing before the Sandiganbayan Third Division, the prosecution panel no longer raised any objection on the motion of Corona’s legal team to dismiss eight counts of perjury under the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and another eight counts of violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against the former magistrate in April 2014.

The cases stemmed from Corona’s alleged misdeclaration of assets in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) from 2001 to 2011.

“In view of the death of the accused and with the prosecution having no objection on the motion, the motion to dismiss the cases against accused Renato Corona is hereby granted,” Third Division chairman Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang said.

The Court also ordered the release of the P160,000 bail bond that Corona posted last year in exchange for his provisional liberty from the cases.

Corona, 67, succumbed to cardiac arrest at The Medical City in Pasig City on April 29, after years of battling diabetes.

In a motion filed before the Third Division on Friday last week, Corona’s legal team pointed out that under Section 4, Rule 111 the Rules of Court, “the death of the accused after arraignment and during the pendency of the criminal action shall extinguish the civil liability arising from the delicit.”

Corona’s camp also invoked Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) which states that the death of an accused before a final judgment is reached "totally extinguishes his supposed criminal and civil liabilities."

While thankful for the dismissal of the cases, Corona’s legal counsel Reody Anthony Balisi reiterated that the late magistrate was innocent of the charges and that their camp is confident of his acquittal had the cases reach final judgement.

"This is not the way we, or Chief Justice Corona, would have wanted these cases dismissed. Had he not passed on, Chief Justice Corona would have wanted to see his vindication of the accusations against him on our firm belief that he is innocent of the charges against him," Balisi said.

"But because of his untimely demise we are constrained to move for the dismissal of these cases on the ground that his death extinguishes his criminal and civil liabilities," he added.

Earlier this month, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) also dismissed multiple counts of tax evasion cases against Corona following his death.

Meanwhile, Corona’s widow Cristina asked the Supreme Court to order the dismissal of the P130-million civil forfeiture case against them pending before the Sandiganbayan Second Division.

Filed by the Ombudsman in March 2014, the P130.59-million civil forfeiture case against the Corona couple stemmed from their alleged ill-gotten wealth from 2001 to 2011.

The case was an offshoot of an impeachment trial against Corona over the former magistrate’s alleged misdeclarations in his SALNS.

In 2012, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, has convicted Corona for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution over non-declaration of several assets, including real estate properties in his SALNs, causing his removal from the Supreme Court.

In a privilege speech in 2013, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada bared that he and his fellow senators who voted in favor of Corona's conviction were given an additional P50 million each by the Aquino administration.  — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: renatocorona
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