Corona had P20-M in 2010, bank exec says

MANILA, Philippines – Contrary to his sworn declaration that he had P3.5-M in “cash and investments” as of Dec. 31, 2010, impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona had nearly P20-M in 2 bank accounts as of the same period, according to bank records presented to the impeachment court on Wednesday, February 8.

Testifying before the impeachmebt court, PSBank president Pascual Garcia III said that Corona, as of December 2010, had a balance of P7,148,238.83 and P12,580,316.56 deposited in bank account numbers 089121021681 and 089121019593, respectively.

The total of these 2 accounts is P19,728,555,39.

In his 2010 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth, the Chief Justice declared that he had P3.5-millon in “cash and investments.”

*not yet opened

Garcia brought records of 5 of 10 bank accounts owned by Corona in PSBank.

Garcia said he chose not to bring the other 5 bank accounts, since these are all related to Corona’s dollar accounts that are covered by a strict foreign currency deposit law. Read an analysis on the bank secrecy law.

“We had assessed and determined that the disclosure of these accounts would have exposed us to criminal liability. We sought guidance from the SC on a petition that we made this morning to provide us that guidance,” Garcia explained.

“These are absolutely confidential,” Garcia said of the dollar accounts.

Senator-judge Franklin M. Drilon noted that the said dollar accounts were covered by the subpoenas issued by the impeachment court. Drilon said Garcia risked being cited in contempt of court for not bringing Corona’s dollar accounts.

Senator-judge Joker Arroyo however appealed to the court to understand the situation of Garcia, who is bound to follow the law on the confidentiality of foreign currency accounts.

In the morning, PSBank asked the Supreme Court to stop the Senate impeachment court from ordering it to release the bank records of the Chief Justice.

The prosecution has claimed that Corona betrayed public trust when he made untruthful declarations in his SALNs.

As Chief Justice, the biggest annual salary that Corona has ever received is close to P600,000. He has no other declared sources of income. – Rappler.com