Corona’s Revised Story: D in D, D-to-D and D of D, D and by D

Corona’s Revised Story: Discrepancies in Declarations Due to Discovery and Disclosure of Deposits, Documents and by Deduction.

In my previous article on the subject, I constructed a story based on the numbers and declarations of Chief Justice Renato Corona in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALNs).

Since then, as witnesses testified, and deposits and documents discovered and disclosed, I am revising the Corona story not only using his own numbers but also those that have been revealed and correspondingly deduced from them.

Party-list Representative Walden Bello prior to becoming a legislator, I personally know to be a good economist and author who used to reside in the Metropolitan Washington, D. C. area. As an economist/author, he always supports his reports and conclusions with research, facts and figures. He obviously knows how to read Balance Sheets, which are identical to SALNs and the distinction between a real estate property’s “fair market value” and acquisition cost.

As reported, Rep. Walden Bello focused on CJ Corona’s SALN for the period ending December 31, 2010 as filed on April 29, 2011. He concluded, “CJ Corona declared a Net Worth of P22,936,980 but his undeclared Net Worth was a least P78,800,355.”

That’s a discrepancy of more than P55,800,000 just for 2010.

Jarius Bondoc is one of the more noted columnist/journalist in the Philippines. As such, he always writes and supports his assertions with proofs, historical facts, and figures. He mentioned me once in his column in relation to my role and that of the late Ninoy Aquino in witnessing testimonial evidence proving the Marcos fake medals.

Columnist Bondoc looked at CJ Corona’s Cash on Hand and in Bank as declared versus the disclosed deposits at PSBANK and BPI in 2007, 2009, and 2010. He found discrepancies of P7,587,966.94 in 2007; P6,678,501.83 in 2009; and P28,252,621.80 in 2010.

He also checked the valuation of CJ Corona’s properties.  He found the following discrepancies: P13,000,000 for the La Vista property in Quezon City; P7,700,000 for the Bellagio Condo in The Fort, Taguig; P6,700,000 for the Ridge Condo in The Fort, Taguig; P1,579,000 for Burgundy Pl. Condo in Loyola Heights, Q.C.; and P2,300,000 for the Columns Condo in Makati.

Marites Daquilan Vitug is the author of the best selling book, “Our Rights Our Victories: Landmark Cases in the Supreme Court”. I bought the eBook version from Amazon.com. From my point of view, she and Raissa Robles redefined “investigative reporting” in the Philippines in this digital age both in print and electronic media. They always support their reports after extensive investigation and research all accompanied by indisputable facts.

Both are my Facebook friends. I remember meeting Marites in Makati through old friend Ma-an Hontiveros years ago when I suggested to them to get into electronic publishing for “Newsbreak”.

Marites Vitug says, “The best guides in this truth seeking journey are the hard facts. They serve as our luminous street signs. When we seem to go off-course, these pull us back. When darkness descends, they are the stars that lit up our way.”

She then compared Corona’s declared cash assets in his SALNs to the deposits testified to:

2007 – P2.5 M  (P10 M in BPI and PSB)

2009 - P2.5 M  (P8.5 M in PSB)

2010 – P3.5 M (P31.6 M in BPI and PSB)

Indeed, numbers tell the story. I also revisited the numbers and went back further as I did in my previous analysis.

After the revisions and careful analysis, I made the following observations:

1. The law requires the declaration of the acquisition costs of all real properties. CJ Corona FAILED to report the said costs.
2. The law requires the declaration of ALL Cash on Hand and in Bank. It does not exclude foreign currency accounts. Bank testimonies prove the existence of a dollar account owned by CJ Corona. Even if the dollar account only has $1 or $700,000, he should have declared it. CJ Corona FAILED to do it.
3. He purchased a land in 1992 and a condo in 1997 both by installment. CJ Corona FAILED to declare them in his 2002 SALN as property-owned and if still not fully paid, as loan/mortgage payable.
4. For 2003, I computed: a Total Asset (Fixed and Current Asset) Discrepancy of P20837720; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P16758800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P4078920.
5. For 2004, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P24426651.82; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P16758800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P24426651.82.
6. For 2005, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P32526651.82; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P25858800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P32526651.82.
7. For 2006, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P30526651.82; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P25858800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P30526651.82.
8. For 2007, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P39635782.35; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P25858800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P39635782.35.
9. For 2008, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P33626651.82; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P23768800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P33626651.82.

10.  For 2009, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P55305153.65; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P23768800; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P55305153.65.

11.  For 2010, I computed: a Total Asset Discrepancy of P70299374.92; a Total Liability Discrepancy of P0.00; and a Net Worth Discrepancy of P70299374.92.

12.   In 2003, CJ Corona took a Cash Advance of P11000000 from his wife’s family realty company. While he correctly declared it as a liability, he failed to add the proceeds to his Cash on Hand or in Bank.

13.  Two properties that he declared in 2009 valued at P3M each were not declared in 2010. If they were sold, at least P6M or the actual proceeds should have been included in the Cash at Hand or in Bank.

14.  The value of Motor Vehicles declared in 2002, were not declared in subsequent years (2003-2010). If they were sold, the proceeds should have been included in the Cash at Hand or in Bank.

15.  There were real properties declared only in 2010 but were actually purchased by installment in previous years. These properties should have been reflected as properties owned in those years and correspondingly included as loan/mortgage payable since bought by installment.

We can be very specific on these. I have the working documents to support my figures.

I do not envy the defense lawyers. They have to figure out how to explain and justify the proven discrepancies. They have indicated one way to explain them – that these discovered deposits and undeclared properties are actually owned by his wife’s family business, the BGEI. They have the P34.7 M proceeds of the sale of property expropriated by the City of Manila to work with. Their business interests in said company were never declared except as a lender of P11 M to him.

The problem is that the deposits and the undeclared properties are way much more than the said amount. And why the former and latter are in his name is a mystery. If in trust, he could have registered it as such and the Board of BGEI should have appointed him as a Trustee.

There was wealth hidden. Right now it is still unexplained. It could have been hidden from the public, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, other agencies of the Government or from the other members of his wife’s family.

CJ Renato Corona and his lawyers or even his supporters could explain the discrepancies before the court of public opinion now or wait for his turn in the impeachment court.

I can’t wait!