House prosecutors accusing Chief Justice Renato Corona of amassing ill-gotten wealth on Thursday showed evidence that he had undervalued his properties in his officially declared assets.
Based on his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) submitted to the Senate on Wednesday, Corona’s net worth was P14 million in 2002, jumping to P22 million in 2010 when he became chief magistrate.
The documents introduced Thursday showed that Corona declared a property at the swank La Vista in Quezon City at P3 million when it was bought for P16 million; the Bellagio penthouse in Taguig at P6.8 million acquired for P14.5 million; a unit in the Ridge, also in Taguig, at P2.3 million bought for P9 million; the Burgundy condo in Quezon city at P921,000 taken at P2.5 million; and the Columns condominium in Makati P1.2 million that was purchased for P3.5 million.
But the prosecution was also put on the spot over questions on whether the properties shown in the documents carried to the court by officials of the Register of Deeds in Taguig City and Quezon City were related to any of the eight articles of impeachment against Corona.
Senator Francis Escudero told prosecutors from the House of Representatives that Article 2 of the verified complaint was taking Corona to task only for his alleged failure to disclose to the public his SALN.
“As a judge, I am at a loss on Article 2, to be honest,” he manifested in Filipino on the fourth day of the impeachment trial.
Escudero said the second article of impeachment accused Corona of “three separate acts” when each article in the complaint “must accuse the respondent of a singular, separate act.”
Besides the alleged nondisclosure of SALNs, the verified complaint said: “It is reported that some of the properties of respondent are not included in his declaration of his assets, liabilities and net worth, in violation of the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act.”
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