Tax court dismisses cases vs. late ex-Chief Justice Renato Corona

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on Monday formally dismissed multiple counts of tax evasion cases against former Supreme Court (SC) chief justice Renato Corona, following his demise last month.

In a brief hearing Monday morning, the CTA Second Division granted the motion to dismiss filed on the same day by Corona’s legal counsel Reody Anthony Balisi.

In the motion, Corona’s camp cited Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), which states that “criminal liability is totally extinguished by the death of the convict…or when the death of the offender occurs before final judgement.”

Corona’s camp further pointed out that Article 89 of the RPC also states that death of the convict or the accused also extinguishes his or her  “personal and pecuniary” liabilities.

The prosecution did not manifest any objection on the motion, prompting Second Division chairman Associate Justice Juanito Castañeda to rule in favor of the dismissal of all the cases.

Corona was charged with six counts of violation Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) for allegedly failing to pay his income tax for years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

He is also facing before the Second Division a case of violation of Section 255 of NIRC for failure to file or to supply correct information in his income tax returns (ITRs), also for the same years.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with the Department of Justice.  According to the complaint, Corona owes the state around P120.5 million, inclusive of interests and surcharges, for his failure to pay his right taxes.

Present during the hearing was Corona’s wife Cristina. She immediately left the courtroom after the proceedings, refusing to grant an interview with the media.

Out of respect

State prosecutor Mark Estepa said they opted to no longer object with the motion as the cases’ dismissal was indeed in accordance with the law following the late magistrate’s demise.

"Siyempre out of respect to the family, hindi na kami nag-comment. And yes, he was not yet convicted and everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty," Estepa said.

Estepa, however, said that the prosecution panel is now leaving it to the discretion of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) if it will still file another case to run after the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Corona’s family members.

Corona passed away on April 29 due to cardiac arrest. He was 67 years old.

Aside from his tax evasion cases before the CTA, Corona also faced a civil forfeiture case and a perjury case before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan also in connection with his alleged misdeclaration of assets.

His camp has yet to file a motion to dismiss the cases before the Sandiganbayan.

In 2012, the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, 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 Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) from 2001 to 2011, causing his removal from the SC.

In a privilege speech in 2013, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada bared that he and his fellow senators were bribed with P50 million each by the Aquino administration to vote in favor of Corona’s conviction in the impeachment case. —ALG, GMA News