By Carmela Fonbuena
Rappler
PRIVATE PERSON: Former Chief Justice Renato Corona says he can turn into a lecturerPRIVATE PERSON: Former Chief Justice Renato Corona says he can turn into a lecturer
MANILA, Philippines – Is it enough to remove Renato Corona from the Supreme Court? Or should government pursue cases against him?
The senators who convicted Corona are split. Saying no one is above the law, senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Pangilinan want government to file separate charges against Corona.
But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and senators Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, and Francis Escudero disagree. “Palagay ko wag na. Nakakaawa eh,” Estrada said in a media interview.
The House leaders and congressmen-prosecutors refuse to take positions themselves. Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said the duty of Congress is to impeach and remove erring government officials. He said it’s up to the other government agencies like the Office of the Ombudsman and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to determine if criminal charges need to be filed.
During the impeachment trial, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and BIR Commissioner Kim Henares both admitted their agencies were investigating Corona. But there’s no word so far if they will file charges.
Rappler interviewed 2 private prosecutors, who were key players in Corona’s impeachment trial. They said the evidence the prosecution panel presented is enough to file 4 strong cases against Corona:
Violation of the SALN law
Perjury for “lying” in his SALN
Forfeiture of unexplained wealth
Tax evasion for not paying correct taxes
“Malakas talaga ‘yan. You don’t talk about the credibity of the witness. It’s the credibity of the document,” private prosecutor Jose Justiniano told Rappler. Another private prosecutor, who refused to be named, expressed the same legal opinion.
However, Justiniano said the government cannot file all 4 cases against Corona. “If government files perjury, it can’t file violation of RA 6713 because of double jeopardy. But forfeiture of unexplained wealth and tax evasion can proceed,” he said.
Rappler also interviewed former senator and lawyer Rene Saguisag and Ateneo School of Government Dean Antonio La Viña, who agreed there’s basis for filing a perjury case against Corona on the basis on his “non-declaration” of assets in his SALN. La Viña said it’s also up to the BIR to investigate if Corona paid taxes for his dollar earnings.
But La Viña said “much stronger evidence will be required for the criminal cases.”
Possible Case 1: Violation of SALN Law [...]
Read the full story >> 4 possible cases vs Corona – lawyers
Yes, continue the investigation of Corona. The trouble with Filipinos, we have this self defeating attitude “nakaaawa”. But without purging the rotten causes of the fraudulence and abuses, they will always resurface and cause even worst damage to the country. I agree with Kiko and Alan. Go for it.
Henry, there are probably thousands of Filipinos rotting in jail at this moment convicted of crimes that are a lot less severe than what Corona had committed, how about them? Corona may be out of a job but he is not going to starve to death or live on the streets for lack of funds. If the government does’nt go through with their investigation on how he was able to amass that much money, then he actually won. I doubt that he’s to worried about losing his job, he is probably more concern about losing his millions. I say go through with the investigation and if there are proof that the money are ill-gotten, hang his sorry ass.
I do agree with Henry in having spotted the weakness in our collective character …if a culprit is found guilty and whoever he or she maybe, rich or poor, must pay the price. Nakakaawa can still be Christian but the penalty under the law must continue. Leona Helmsley was kawawa when they found her guilty of tax evasion but still served jail time. The Marcos regime was brutal to thousannds of Filipinos but when his empire crumbled and his family and cohorts had to payback, what did they suffer from….NOTHING. In fact, members of the regime, the family and some officials are still serving in govcrnment till today! Ang kawawa ang bansang Filipino. So, Corona and those who follow him, if tried and convicted, MUST SERVE TIME while we pray for them kasi kawawa sila.
We must religiously pursued for other crime of renato corona. Mas nakakaawa ang mga Filipino na namamatay sa gutom at sakit dahil ang pera na para sana sa kapakanan ng taong bayan ay kinurakot ng mga nasa kapangyarihan at pulitikong mga taong ito, isali rin sa imbistigasyon sina enrile,jinggoy estrada,honasan at escudero baka may itinatago rin sila na nakaw na yaman.
That’s the problem. They must be hiding something to be afraid of further investigations of corruptions and fraudulence. I want those who opposed further suits against Corona be transparent. Nakakaawa naman ang mga Juan dela Cruz, ang mahihirap at common tao. Kiko and Alan finish the job so no more Corona will reappear to do more damage to the Philippines.
This false sentiment of pity..”nakakaawa” is so ridiculous act for Senator-judges Enrile,Estrada ,Honasan and Escudero.! It shows the impeachment system is half-baked showing to the people double standard if the convicted was a high ranking official or politician.It’s not only the removal of Corona that majority of the Filipinos are clamoring but how the fraudulent manipulation of power and abuses were done.
Fernando, the only thing I could think of why these senators feel that way is that they are probably hoping that in the event they somehow find themselves in the same situation as Corona that others will also have the same sentiment of feeling sorry for them when they are caught between a rock and a hard place. With this kind of attitude, how in the hell do they expect our justice system to render punishment to those who are found guilty of crimes against the state? Their rationale are very typical of crooks protecting their own kind. Nah, things will never change in our country, with political dynasty dominating our system of government, we are truly doomed.
Ganayan palagi tayong mga Filipino. Kawawa naman.
As what I have read in an article sometime back, we are where are now because our heart and brain are misplaced when it comes to this.
As the article says “we put our heart in our head and put our brain in our heart”.
Ben, I did made a comment that there’s really nothing wrong with our hearts, it’s always been in the right place. It’s our damn brains that somehow drifted all the way down to where our rectum is. It’s kind if difficult to think straight when you’re sitting on your brain most of the time and you coupled that with total lost of common sense, it’s no wonder why our country is in this situation. Election is just around the corner, and I can guarantee you that the people will once again vote for the same deadbeat politicians who really have’nt done much of anything to improve the lives of the people that they represent. Except their own of course.
As I opined before, the ‘conviction’ of Corona should not end there.
The BIR not the OMBUDSMAN should continue the investigation of Corona’s unexplained wealth and charge him of tax deficiency, if warranted.
The Ombudsman lost her integrity when she testified during the impeachment period and accused Corona of false statements. She said Corona has 82 bank accounts with the same bank (equivalent to bank transaction balances) based on her power point presentation.
I used ‘conviction’ because I disagreed with the decision of the impeachment court.
The revised SALN for implementation in 2011 was deferred as suggested by Sen. Pimentel during the impeachment trial.
Why? Because that new SALN carried with it 1st offense penalty of SUSPENSION, 2nd offense penalty of DISMISSAL from office.
There are also alleged abused of discretion (?) regarding the presentation of documents by the prosecution.
Mac, if you really think about it the impeachment trial did’nt really accomplish much of anything other than the removal of Corona from the Supreme Court. As soon as he admitted to having those dollar and peso accounts, the prosecution dropped everything. The impeachment court decided that they did’nt need to go any further in finding out whether his figures were true or not, or where the money came from. So the idea of just leaving him alone because he is “kawawa naman” is something to be expected from the Pope not from people who gave him a guilty verdict. They now need to find out the real sources of Coronas millions because if they just let it go, Corona actually won. Angelo Reyes took the easy way out to also protect his millions and his family. Nothing was ever mentioned about his case again, they probably just swept it under the rug, I meant banig.
Hi Noah,
Let’s face it.
Whether Corona denied or admitted the truth about his SALN, he was pre-judged already as GUILTY because of public opinion, strengthened by the partial media.
So, to my personal assessment, I agree in the stand of Corona to accept the challenge of the prosecution and the outcry of the public supported by the partial media, in defending himself and the institution he represents.
And, I think the PNoy administration will not stop until he is removed as Chief Justice. That was the strategy of the prosecution and the partial media.
If Corona denied about his peso and dollar accounts by not declaring them in his SALN, I personally anticipate an ‘ALIEN’ from nowhere with fabricated documents will come to the rescue of the prosecution declaring Corona as a darn liar.
And just the same, the TRUTH did not set Corona free.
Now, I asked the prosecution – Why did the impeachment court during the proceedings favored the request of Sen. Koko Pimentel to defer the implementation of 2011 revised SALN?
Sen. Merriam was correct, to my understanding, – at least admonition or suspension but not removal from office should be the verdict.
We need a lot of explanation from Sen. Pimentel why he moved for deferment of 2011 revised SALN when the impeachment was in process.
But, like Corona, I myself accepted the conviction for the sake of unity and looking forward – thus, I said go ahead examine Corona’s financial records even after the verdict. He signed a waiver to be consistent to his words in accepting the challenge.
If we really want to investigate and file criminal indictment in court and the trial against powerful grafters no matter how high their rank or power is without much politics, without grand standing investigation or publicity, without seeking permission from any government or “big shots” in the Senate to minimize, prevent, or stop government corruption, 95% guaranteed, I strongly recommend for adoption by the people’s initiative of the GRAND JURY and TRIAL JURY systems of the U.S. Federal Jury systems wherein not even a U.S. President can escape prosecution, trial and conviction from any act of corruption.
You may read about this very highly effective anti-graft devices and the recommended steps for their enactment in the web site below.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?u9xdn3phbjx5zod
If these devices were installed today, graft and corruption can stop by as much as 95%. Conviction of a crime suspect can be achieved within 12 to 15 months starting from date of investigation by the Grand Jury up to the date of conviction with Trial by Jury of the accused crime suspect.
Marlowe, my opinion is, and no matter how effective the US Justice system is, our political leaders are not going to go for it. Their way of thinking have been anti-US for quite some time now. Anything that has a USA label attach to it they will not touch even with a ten foot pole. I really think it’s more of, ” we better not adopt their type of Justice system or it might just bite us in the ass” attitude. They would probably just keep our justice system because it’s easy for them to go around it.