PSBank president admits some details on 'fake' doc are authentic

Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) president Pascual Garcia III on Thursday admitted during Day 19 of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona that although a document obtained by the prosecution team had ‘discrepancies’ vis-à-vis the original, some of the information on the copy were "authentic."   "The information was authentic, but the way they were indicated [was not]," Garcia said during Thursday's impeachment trial.   He made the statement after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile asked him about how anyone outside of their bank could have gotten information about Corona's accounts.   But Garcia explained that it would be easy to obtain the basic information of depositors since most of this is public.  He likewise said that account numbers can be easily obtained through checks, receipts, and bank certificates submitted to different offices.   Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, one of the prosecutors, earlier claimed that an anonymous lady handed over to him the same records, which showed the chief magistrate having $700,000 in deposits.   Also in Day 19 of the trial, PSBank Katipunan Avenue branch manager Annabelle Tiongson revealed that Quezon City Rep. Jorge "Bolet" Banal had approached her last January 31 regarding similar documents.   Garcia said that upon learning this, he ordered several senior officers to secure and transfer original copies of Corona's bank documents to PSBank's head office.   He likewise said that the documents were moved to a vault in their office with "dual access and dual control."   But when Enrile asked if he personally oversaw the transfer, he admitted he did not.   Garcia also admitted that "it is possible" that he won't know if someone opened the vault.   A new wrinkle in the trial   Quezon City Rep. Jorge “Bolet” Banal confirmed before the Senate adjourned Day 19 of the trial Thursday that he visited PSBank’s Katipunan branch last Jan. 31 to ask for help to verify the authenticity of photocopies of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s bank records he said was anonymously left at the gate of his home.   Banal voluntarily appeared before the Senate impeachment court on Thursday to explain his side after Tiongson said the congressman inquired about Corona’s bank records.   The Representative of Quezon City’s third congressional district said the night before his visit to the bank, he found copies of Corona’s bank records inside an envelope.   “Totoo po iyon. Ako po ay nagpunta po roon para humingi ng tulong… Meron akong alam pero gusto ko i-verify. Baka mali po kasi dahil photocopy lang kasi sya,” he said.   He added that he properly identified himself during his visit at the bank, and even left a business card with his contact numbers before he left.   Banal also said that he chose not to inform any of the prosecutors regarding so as not “to add to their burden.”   “Wala po akong sinabihan kahit na sino… Pasensya na po if naka-cause ng any problem,” he told the senator-judges during the trial. — ELR, GMA News