Corona got P11-M cash from ‘dead’ firm

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an P11-million cash advance from a company owned by his wife’s family in 2003 because its certificate of registration was revoked that same year.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.

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