Corona bank accounts closed ahead of House impeachment

MANILA, Philippines - Peso bank accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona in the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) were closed hours before 188 members of the House of Representatives signed the impeachment complaint last December 12.

PSBank president Pascual Garcia and branch manager Annabelle Tiongson testified during the 19th day of the impeachment trial that peso bank accounts of Corona at the Katipunan branch were closed during the banking hours of December 12.

During questioning, Tiongson said that one of the accounts closed contained P17 million. The account she was referring to was opened June 29, 2011.

Earlier in the hearing, the bank branch manager enumerated bank accounts of the Chief Justice, but she failed to point out which were closed on December 12.

Demetriou Custodio, one of the private lawyers of the prosecution team, said that at least three bank accounts of Corona were closed on the same day.

Custodio said that the three bank accounts had a total deposit of P36.2 million.

Asked by Senator-Judge Loren Legarda why the prosecution brought up the closure of the three accounts, the lawyer said: "This will show that this was in preparation of the impeachment complaint that was filed [by the House of Representatives]."

"There was an attempt to conceal certain amounts," Custodio added.

Corona personally revealed an "oust plot" against him at the House of Representatives at the Supreme Court's flag-raising ceremony at past 8 a.m. on December 12.

At 2:30 p.m., members of the majority coalition held a caucus at the Batasan Pambansa Complex, where Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, the lead House prosecutor, presented the articles of impeachment against Corona.

In five hours, a total of 188 congressmen were able to sign the impeachment complaint, which was transmitted to the Senate.

The Senate received the articles of impeachment against Corona the next day.