Discrepancies in Corona cousin’s testimony

Impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona insults the intelligence of senator-judges and the public by presenting his cousin, Demetrio Vicente, as a defense witness before the Senate last March 13.

Vicente testified that he bought seven parcels of land in Marikina from Corona’s wife, Cristina, in 1990, but that up to this day he has yet to cause the transfer of the titles to his name. Incredible? You bet!

Sure, Vicente was a well-rehearsed witness. But a credible one? I doubt very much. Let’s go over the discrepancies in Vicente’s testimony one by one.

First, if the sale was not fake or a simulated one, how come Corona still included the already “sold” properties in his 1993 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN)?

Second, if Vicente supposedly earned P3.5 million in 1990 which allowed him to “buy” the seven parcels of land for P509,000 from Cristina, how come he did not have the measly P2,000 needed to pay the transfer tax that would have transferred the titles to him?

Third, why would Vicente, if he is indeed the savvy businessman he pictured himself to be, let two decades pass without transferring the titles to his name, thus failing to perfect the sale, which would make it difficult for his child to claim the same properties in the event of his demise?

Fourth, what piece of property in Tandang Sora in 1990 would have fetched Vicente’s claimed selling price of P3.5 million? And granted it was sold for that much, how come the house he built on the real property in Marikina looked more like a caretaker’s house and not one that allegedly bankrupted him?

For sure, the senator-judges can see through the lies which Corona tried to foist on them through Vicente because of the glaring inconsistencies in the latter’s statements.

—PRECY YAP,

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