Lacierda dared to testify in Corona impeachment trial

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda might as well testify in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona if he is certain that the supposedly leaked bank records of the magistrate were genuine.   This was the reaction of defense lawyer and spokesperson Rico Paolo Quicho regarding Lacierda’s pronouncement that the photocopied bank records were not "fake" as claimed by the branch manager of Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) in Katipunan, Quezon City.   "Kung may informant siya [Lacierda] patungkol dito baka dapat natin siya ipatawag kung paano niya nalaman," Quicho said at a media briefing during a break in Wednesday's impeachment trial in the Senate.   Lacierda, in response, said Quicho obviously did not read the entire story about his statement that was published by a national broadsheet.    "Tell Quicho to read the body of the Philstar (Philippine Star) headline and not just rely on the banner headline. Ano ba yan!" he said.   Lacierda added: "The bank president testified to the existence of the bank accounts, the account numbers, the year end balances, and more importantly, the existence of the dollar deposits and their account numbers. They are none so blind as those who refuse to see.”   Not a participant   Quicho said he does not know how Lacierda was able to tell that the leaked bank records were not fake when he is not even a party to the case.   Quicho advised Lacierda to be "more responsible" with his statements, especially since "he is not even a participant [in the trial]."   "It will not help kung may makikisawsaw sa issue na hindi naman part dito," he said.   Quicho advised the public to first examine carefully all pronouncements coming from both camps before drawing out a conclusion.   Standing by the authenticity of the leaked bank records, Lacierda also criticized PSBank-Katipunan branch manager Annabelle Tiongson for claiming the documents were fake, saying the bank official might have only said so to protect their bank.   He even slammed Tiongson for "trying to pass the blame" to the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas as the source of the documents. Tiongson earlier testified that apart from their bank, the BSP also has in its possession copies of their clients’ bank accounts.   "That was a very slight but a very sly inference and accusation,” Lacierda had said. – with Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News