BY LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO and ROLLY T. CARANDANG
MANILA BULLETIN
MANILA, Philippines — A network of priests, seminarians, and lay individuals, and a group of Catholic educators trooped to the Supreme Court Friday to deliver a letter urging Chief Justice Renato Corona to “make good on his word” by voluntarily opening to the public the contents of his foreign currency deposit accounts.
“We respectfully call on you to voluntarily open and make public the contents of your foreign currency deposit accounts. You have made numerous pronouncements that you will open them in ‘due time.’ At this time when the people’s search for truth has zeroed in on your SALNs and bank records, there is no more appropriate time to open your dollar accounts than now,” read the groups letter to Corona.
Validation Of Distrust
As this developed, prosecutors from the House of Representatives said the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey showing that majority of Filipinos distrust the Chief Justice only validates that he had lost moral ascendancy to lead the Supreme Court and therefore should be removed from office.
“Once again the public has spoken that Chief Justice Corona does not deserve to remain as head of the Supreme Court,” House Deputy Speaker and prosecution panel spokesman Erin Tañada said in a statement. “He has lost the moral ascendancy to lead an institution that should be beyond reproach.”
Another spokesman Aurora Rep. Sonny Angara said the survey result did not come as a surprise for the prosecution since Corona already earned the reputation as the most unpopular chief justice since the 1986 revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship. He said matters became worse for Corona after the prosecution had presented overwhelming evidence to pin him down on charges of culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust.
“With his betrayal of public trust, it is not surprising to see the results of the survey,” Angara said. “In fact, it is not only betrayal of public trust, but also withdrawal of public trust.”
Take Leave
The Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB) – a church-based Jesuit-led organization and the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines (CEAP), the biggest organized group of Catholic schools in the country – also called on Corona to take a voluntary leave of absence until such a time that the trial is completed and a decision is rendered by the impeachment court.
“We believe your continued presence in, and influence upon the Supreme Court which makes various decisions in relation to your own trial, will result in a process that cannot be deemed fair nor credible, “ read the letter.
The groups also called on Corona to testify before the impeachment court, citing the several occasions wherein he made public his desire to face the impeachment court.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/355175/clergy-calls-on-cj-to-open-dollar-account
By all means CJ Corona MUST testify and answer all questions about his peso and dollar accounts in the bank. Its highly suspicious now that Renato Corona requested a TRO for his dollar accounts to hide any properties he purchased here in USA. Recent news articles from Sun Star Manila indicates a possibilities of properties being owned by Renato Corona and his siblings inTampa Florida , Mountain View and Roseville California. The Philippine government should pursue an investigation to verify the truth about the true identity of Renato Corona’s alleged three properties he owns here in USA.
I know it to be true that people living in the same country or even different countries could have the same exact names and even birth dates. But Corona having a namesake here in the US should’nt really be a surprise because of the large population of hispanics living here. But what is surprising about this story are the names of the children, their ages and even the wife’s name, it matches that of Corona’s. The prosecution team should pursue the possibility of this story being authentic and with certified documents provided by the US throw it in the faces of Coronas defense and get this show over with. There’s a strong possibility that most of Corona’s lawyers if not all, are aware of this story to be true and doing their best to conceal it from this impeachment court and the Filipino people. The truth will reveal itself, it’s just a matter of time. Hopefully soon.