Ombudsman calls Corona a "certified liar"

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales lashed back at Chief Justice Renato Corona on Friday after the magistrate said she was allowing herself to be used by the current administration to get back at him. "Never ever!" she told host Arnold Clavio in a telephone interview aired on GMA News TV shortly after Corona made the allegation at his impeachment trial at the Senate. "Siya ang nagpapagamit," Morales vehemently said. In response to a question from senator-judge Jinggoy Estrada about the report from the Anti-Money Laundering Council showing that Corona has 82 dollar accounts in five banks, as presented by Morales to the court, Corona had replied, "Palagay ko, nagpagamit si Ombudsman sa Malacañang." Corona also claimed that Morales asked for a huge retirement fee when she retired as Supreme Court Associate Justice last year. However, he said this was relayed by a staff and he did not hear it personally from Morales. "I’m fuming mad! He is a certified liar," Morales said. "He said I was mad at him because I asked for a huge retirement fee and he did not grant it.  The usual retirement fee is P1.5 million. When my turn came, he reduced it to rock-bottom. He is a certified liar!" the Ombudsman said. Morales said she only received P650,000 from the Supreme Court when she retired in 2011. President Benigno Aquino III subsequently appointed her as Ombudsman, replacing former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Morales called a news conference Friday while the trial was going on, just to respond to Corona's allegations.   “I never wanted to have a press con. This time I'm raring to talk to you because I feel that I have been maligned,” she told the media.   “He asked me if I have a conscience. Yes, I have a clear conscience. I hope his is as clear as mine,” she added.   Morales also said she is willing to sign a waiver that would allow authorities to check her lone dollar account with the Bank of the Philippine Islands, which is declared in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN.) Corona was impeached last December for culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for failing to properly disclose the contents of his SALN, among other charges. He has admitted that he has $2.4 million in four dollar accounts, but none of them are in his SALN because of the bank secrecy law.   In 2010, Morales wrote a dissenting opinion to the SC's ruling upholding then-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's appointment of Corona as chief justice a few days after the national elections. Aquino had questioned what he called the "midnight appointment" of Corona. Instead of taking his oath before the Chief Justice, as is customary for the president-elect, Aquino asked Morales to swear him into office.- YA, GMA News