‘Tapos na ang boksing for Corona’

What were Chief Justice Renato Corona and his defense team planning when they decided to have the impeachment court subpoena Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales as a hostile witness? Whatever it was, their decision has boomeranged on them. Morales’ testimony, complete with PowerPoint presentation, is so damning it may well be the last nail on the coffin of the Chief Justice.

Whoever was in charge of intelligence gathering failed miserably to provide the defense strategists with the correct information. They didn’t know that Morales had the bombshell from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). They thought all she had were the complaints from some congressmen about Corona’s alleged ill-gotten wealth which are, at best, hearsay evidence. The defense probably wanted to dispose of this irritation quickly. Without any valid evidence against him, Corona would go home free. The defense probably wanted to prove that the Ombudsman has no authority to investigate an impeachable official like the Chief Justice.

But it turned out that the AMLC, to fulfill its mandate, had already investigated Corona’s numerous dollar bank accounts and gave the results to the Ombudsman. Then the Ombudsman said it was her own mandate and duty to act on the information.

And the information is pretty damning. Corona maintained 82 (repeat 82) dollar bank accounts in different branches of five banks where not only $10 million is deposited but more that $12 million. The accounts are in bank branches far from each other, as if the depositor is trying to mislead nosy people following a paper trail. In these accounts, money has been deposited and withdrawn often, sometimes on the same day as if to confuse these nosy people. Significant amounts were withdrawn on significant days, such as during the elections and on the week Corona was impeached by the House of Representatives.

The AMLC recorded a total of 705 transactions in Corona’s foreign currency accounts. COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza said in her own testimony that the inflows to the accounts totaled $28.7 million over the past eight years, while the outflows totaled $30.7 million.  Morales submitted to the impeachment court a copy of the 17-page report from the AMLC.

Chief defense counsel Serafin Cuevas tried mightily to prevent Morales from testifying, an indication that the defense learned of Morales’ damaging testimony too late. It was the defense that had Morales subpoenaed as a hostile witness, and now here it was trying to prevent her from testifying. The senators voted unanimously to allow Morales’ PowerPoint presentation.

Cuevas questioned the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction over the Chief Justice. He said the Ombudsman cannot compel the Chief Justice to respond to the allegations as the Constitution guarantees an accused against self-incrimination.

“I did not compel him, your honor,” Morales retorted. “I was just following my mandate to conduct an investigation.”

Morales also cited the observations of the team that investigated the accounts:

1. “Multiple accounts were created for a similar purpose and spread over various branches of the five banks.”

2. “The transactions were described as having ‘circuitous fund movements’. For example, funds would be drawn from one account and distributed to three others.”

3. “There were numerous instances when funds were deposited and withdrawn on the same day.”

4. “There were ‘significant movements on significant days,’ including periods during the 2004 and 2007 elections and in the week that Corona was impeached in the House of Representatives last year.”

Morales also revealed that Corona had only one dollar account in 2003 when he became associate justice of the Supreme Court. Two years later, this increased to 23 accounts. In 2007, Corona had 35 accounts, 49 in 2008, 63 in 2009, 75 in 2010, and 81 in 2011.

Why did Corona keep so many dollar accounts? Very suspicious, don’t you think? But his defense lawyers said the Chief Justice can explain all that. Just wait until he testifies.

Corona will have to do a lot of story-weaving and storytelling to explain his mysterious and convoluted bank accounts. And will the people still believe him?

Characteristically, Corona himself branded Morales’ testimony as a “hoax” and a “lantern of lies.” In a statement given to media, he said Morales should resign if proven wrong for allowing the Aquino administration to use her.

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Filipino banana exporters are going bananas over the ban by the Chinese government of Philippine bananas allegedly due to “pest infestation.” President Aquino’s advice to them is: “Find other markets. Don’t put all your bananas in one basket.”

At least 1,500 containers of cavendish bananas are currently being held in three Chinese ports and will reportedly be thrown into the sea.

Exporters said they believe that the ban is due to the quarrel of the Philippine and Chinese governments over the Panatag Shoal. But Vice President Jejomar Binay told the Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel last Monday that the Chinese government had already complained of the pest infestation a month before the standoff.

He also said that Chinese tour operators were already cutting down on sending tourists to the Philippines even before the standoff.

China is the Philippines’ fourth biggest source of tourists and it imports from the Philippines more than P4 billion worth of Cavendish bananas every year.