AMADO P. MACASAET
‘A clear pattern is emerging. Corona’s true wealth is either not declared or undervalued in his SALN.’The prosecution has just filed more requests for subpoenas for the submission of bank records that are expected to raise legal issues involving the secrecy of foreign currency deposits.
These accounts are expected to open a can of worms. Do not be surprised to see defense lawyers frothing in their mouths trying to block the damning evidence.
Fact is, since Corona joined the Supreme Court in 2002, he declared under oath no more than P3.5 million in cash. If copies of bank documents relating to a dollar account in the name of Corona are accurate, he appears to have at some point at least US$700,000 or about P34 Million deposited in a PSBank account as of October 2008.
These funds, as well as those deposited in several other accounts in PSBank also covered by the request for subpoena, were never declared in Corona’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
This is on top of several upscale real properties uncovered by the prosecution during the trial.
All told, a clear pattern is emerging. Corona’s true wealth is either not declared or undervalued in his SALN.
After reports of dollar accounts of Corona surfaced, the PSBank quickly issued a statement invoking the confidentiality of foreign currency deposits, citing Republic Act No.6426. The knee jerk reaction from the bank only tends to confirm initial reports of Corona’s cash stash.
The statement also seems to have invited more informers to share more information.
Today, with copies of signature cards and other documents signed by Corona himself attached by the prosecution to their request for subpoena, it seems that his secret cannot be kept a secret for long.
Bankers and lawyers familiar with secrecy of such deposits tell me that secrecy of such deposits being invoked by PSBank is not as iron clad as the bank would want us to believe.
As early as 1997, the Supreme Court has ruled that the secrecy of foreign currency deposits only applies to foreign lenders and investors, not to local residents like Corona. This ruling was reiterated in 2004 when the power of the Ombudsman to look into local dollar accounts in the course of investigating graft and corruption was affirmed.
That local residents are not covered by the secrecy contemplated under R.A. 6426 is clear.
No wonder Marcos kept his cash in Swiss banks. Corona, on the other hand, didn’t seem to bother looking, least of all studying, these laws.
In fact, it seems that Corona even failed to read a decision he concurred in where the court ruled just last year that RA 6426 was intended to encourage deposits from foreign lenders and investors who were granted the secrecy needed to lure their deposits into our banking system.
It took decades to find the illgotten wealth of Marcos, the extent of which is still uncertain until now. He was a brilliant lawyer after all.
It took only a few months to reveal Corona’s hidden wealth.
If anything, this tells us what caliber of a lawyer Corona truly is.
How our senators will act on these requests for subpoena in caucus is pivotal in determining whether transparency or secrecy will reign. If the Supreme Court has ruled that the Ombudsman can look into such dollar accounts, there is no reason why the Impeachment Court cannot.
If our Senators refuse to issue the subpoena, they are sending a clear signal to all crooks in government to immediately convert their peso accounts into dollar accounts in our local banks if they want them to be out of reach of investigators.
Crooks need not smuggle them into the US anymore.
Perhaps a vote should be taken on the floor for the people to know who among our senators are for secrecy and who are for transparency.
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