By Cathy C. Yamsuan, Christian V. Esguerra, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
‘NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC’
This corporate notice appeared
in the Classifieds section of the
June 4, 1995, issue of the
Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Prosecutors on Wednesday zeroed in on what one senator-judge described as an “unexplained inclusion” in the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
On Day 10 of Corona’s impeachment trial, the prosecution contended that the Chief Justice could not have received an P11-million cash advance from a company owned by his wife’s family in 2003 because its certificate of registration was revoked that same year.
“Our theory is that there could not have been any transaction made by Basa-Guidote (Enterprises Inc.) with Chief Justice Renato Corona because … the corporate franchise had already been dissolved or revoked and therefore, the only action that can be taken by Basa-Guidote (was) just to liquidate and wind up the affairs of the corporation and distribute the shares,” Representative Reynaldo Umali told the impeachment court.
Prosecutors presented Director Benito Cataran of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to show that the company was no longer in a position to release money to Corona.
The approach puzzled some of the senators, who questioned the relevance of Basa-Guidote being “dead” to the charge that Corona did not publicly disclose his SALN and because of that, should be convicted of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), you were trying to prove … there were unexplained exclusions (in the SALN),” Senator Francis Pangilinan told prosecutors, referring to the allegation that Corona did not declare some properties in his SALN. “In this case, there is unexplained inclusion.”
Senator Joker Arroyo followed up: “If you are not sure of your evidence, do not present it.”
The P11-million cash advance from Basa-Guidote was declared as a liability in Corona’s SALNs for 2003 and 2004. It was later reduced to P10 million in the 2005 SALN, P8 million in 2006, P6.5 million in 2007, P5 million in 2008 and P3 million in 2009. The gradual decrease indicated that he was paying off the cash advance.
Cataran, head of the SEC’s company registration and monitoring department, testified that the commission revoked Basa-Guidote’s certificate of registration on May 26, 2003.
He said the company had not been submitting records such as financial reports and general information sheets from 1991 up to the year of revocation.
Cataran added that Corona’s wife, Cristina, was neither a stockholder nor a director of the company, which was registered on May 30, 1960.
Enrile lecture
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer in the impeachment trial, rebuffed Cataran when he said that Basa-Guidote lost its “corporate existence” by virtue of the revocation. Enrile questioned the SEC’s authority to “cause the dissolution of a corporation.”
“You cannot kill it, you cannot make it die. Only the stockholders can make it die or the government through the power of a quo warranto proceeding can kill it,” Enrile told the witness.
Cataran, a lawyer, said: “We consider this as involuntary dissolution of corporation through an act by the commission.” He explained that a corporation that had its registration revoked could still be revived.
To which, Enrile replied: “Therefore, it is not dissolved. If it’s dissolved, you kill it. You cannot revive it.”
The issue was so contentious that Enrile ordered Cataran to submit a legal memorandum explaining the SEC’s authority to dissolve a corporation.
“I’m not imposing my opinion on this, although I entertain a great doubt whether it has the authority to dissolve a corporation,” Enrile said.
“What will be the status of a corporation in dissolution and after the dissolution, what will be the status of the assets of the corporation? My recollection is in that event it becomes a matter of co-ownership by the stockholders.” [...]
Read the full story >> Corona got P11-M cash from ‘dead’ firm
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RELATED STORY:
SEC exec grilled over Corona wife’s family firm
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Renato Corona took an P11million cash advance in 2003 from a company that failed to file its general information sheet and financial statements from 1991-1997 and from 2000-2010, an official of the Securities and Exchange Commission testified at the resumption of Corona’s impeachment trial Wednesday but could not say whether the firm remained operational even after its registration had been revoked.
The one-hour cross examination of Benito Cataran, SEC director of corporate registration and monitoring department, irked Senator Joker Arroyo who said, “If you’re not sure of your evidence, please don’t present. That’s all.”
Cataran was grilled by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court over his uncertainty on whether the Basa-Guidote Entrprises Inc (BGEI), owned by the family of Corona’s wife, Cristina, continued to operate even after, he said, the SEC revoked the corporation’s certificate of registration in April 2003, which he later corrected to May 2003.
He said the firm failed to file its general information sheet from 1991 to 1997 and its financial statements from 2000 to 2010.
On the direct examination by prosecutor and Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali, Cataran said that “since 1991, the corporation has not been submitting any report… [...]
Read the full story >> SEC exec grilled over Corona wife’s family firm
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