Luxury of lavish proportions. This was how the condominium units in the Bellagio Tower I were described by Megaworld Corp. on its website. The property, sitting across Manila Golf and Country Club, is in an “upscale” community in Taguig City’s The Fort — a mixed-use residential and commercial development with malls, supermarkets, and entertainment centers. The unit owned by Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife, Cristina, is nestled at the top of Tower I. The 303.5-sqm penthouse is a four-bedroom affair, with three additional parking spaces separately bought by the couple. The amenities include a landscaped garden in the viewing deck, a horizon edge swimming pool with and in-water pool lounge, a separate pool for kids, a sunbathing deck, and a children's playground. The Bellagio Tower I also features function rooms, day-care center, gym, gameroom, and convertible rooms. The penthouse unit in Bellagio Tower I, completed in 2008, was sold to the Chief Justice in 2009 for P14.5 million on installment basis, according to a witness presented in the impeachment proceedings at the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court. However, in Corona’s 2010 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), the penthouse was declared in terms of its current fair market value at P6.8 million.
Bellagio Tower I, a study in lavish luxury. Source: Megaworld
300 sqm x zonal value = P30M In an interview with GMA News Online, licensed real estate broker Randell Enverga, who sells condo units at Bellagio Tower I, said that the penthouse unit of the chief magistrate may be sold for at least P30 million at current market price.
“Kung 300 square meters times the zonal value, P30 million
na ‘yun. Kung ibebenta, may tubo pa at nagastos sa furnishing, I think
puwede siyang ibenta ng P31 million to P38 million more or less,” Enverga said, citing the zonal value at The Fort at P100,000 per sqm. According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue website, the zonal value at The Fort is indeed P100,000 per sqm. The bureau designates zonal value as its basis for computing property taxes. Still, Enverga noted that the owner has the last call on the selling price.
“Pero siyempre depende pa rin ‘yun kung magkano gustong ibenta ng owner.
Depende rin kasi sa nagastos niya sa furnishings — furnitures and appliances.” The real estate broker is currently selling two smaller but fully-furnished units in Tower I, including a 61 sqm unit for P7.5 million, roughly a fifth of the size of the Corona penthouse. The other unit for P12 million to P13.5 million has a floor space of 97.5 sqm, or about a third of the chief magistrate’s unit. The prosecution’s search for the Corona properties was part and parcel of Article II in the verified impeachment complaint, accusing the chief Justice of non-public disclosure of his SALN. This article encompasses “truthfulness” in declaration of assets and liabilities, the prosecutors noted.
No favor from Corona During the impeachment trial on Monday, the prosecution panel questioned the accuracy of Corona’s SALN, citing that the price of the Bellagio property indicated in the tax declaration amounted to P14.5 million, different from the P6.8 million declared in the chief justice’s SALN. The prosecutors also questioned the alleged “discount” given by property developer Megaworld to Corona. On Monday, Noli Hernandez, Megaworld senior vice president for marketing and sales, testified that
the company slashed P10 million or 40 percent from the condominium’s original selling price of P24 million. Hernandez cited that the unit was damaged by a typhoon in 2009 so they re-priced the unit at P19 million, reflecting a 25 percent discount. Since Corona was able to pay the unit within a year, the company gave him another 15 percent discount. In relation to the discounts, Hernandez told the impeachment court that
Megaworld received no favor from Corona. Of three Megaworld cases pending at the high tribunal, Hernandez said Megaworld lost in two cases, with Corona voting against the company in both cases. The case in which Megaworld won was way back in 2004 or five years before Corona acquired the penthouse.
Other multi-million-peso properties According to Corona’s 2010 SALN, the chief justice’s net worth was P22.939 million, including several real estate properties and various cash investments worth P3.5 million and jewelries amounting to P1 million. Apart from the Bellagio unit, the chief justice declared three other condominium units in Taguig City, Makati City and Quezon City valued at P2.370 million, P1.210 million, and P921,000, respectively. During the impeachment hearings, the properties were specified as a condominium unit at Spanish Bay in Taguig City’s Bonifacio Ridge, The Columns Ayala Avenue in Makati City, and One Burgundy Plaza in Quezon City. Corona’s present home in Xavierville Avenue, Loyola Heights is estimated at P7.138 million. However, in his 2010 SALN, the Chief Justice did not declare any liabilities unlike in his previous SALNs. In his 2003 and 2004 SALNs, Corona declared an P11-million “cash advance from Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc.,” which he indicated as owned by the family of his wife, Cristina. In Wednesday’s hearing, witness Benito Cataran, director of Securities and Exchange Commission's Company Registration & Regulatory Department, said that the Basa-Guidote license to operate was revoked in 2003 for non-compliance with reportorial requirements. However, Senator Judge Francis Escudero pointed out that in such a situation Basa-Guidote could still operate as an association with its members doing business as usual among themselves. The cash advance was gradually reduced based on Corona’s SALNs from 2005 until it no longer appeared in his 2010 SALN.
Parking slots with no cars? It is interesting to note that Corona bought three parking slots at Bellagio, even though not a single vehicle was declared in his SALNs from 2001 to 2010. Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees Section 8 states that a SALN should contain information on:
- real property, its improvements, acquisition costs, assessed value and current fair market value
- personal property and acquisition cost
- and all other assets such as investments, cash on hand or in banks, stocks, bonds, and the like.
Veteran journalist Malou Mangahas said in a forum on Jan 27 that cars, jewelries and other assets of any public official should be included in the SALN. There are public officials who even declare art pieces, books and horses as assets, she added.
— VS/KG, GMA News 
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