Corona, wife income disproportionate to assets

By Shielo Mendoza | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

Where did her money come from?

This question surfaced after documents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) revealed that Chief Justice Renato Corona’s wife, Cristina, acquired a property in La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City with no source of income.

The property is worth P11 million and was purchased in 2003.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares, who testified before the impeachment court on Thursday, said Cristina had registered to become a one-time tax payer for a property sale only in 2003.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, presiding officer of the impeachment court, asked Henares what the BIR did following the discovery that Corona’s wife did not have a clear income source during the date of purchase.

“We only found out about this last Jan. 20 because of the impeachment. There will be further investigation on the matter,” the BIR chief said.

Enrile then disallowed further questions regarding Cristina’s La Vista property. “We can’t assume without probe,” he said.

Henares however noted that Cristina only declared a source of income in 2007 through the alpha list of John Hay Management Corporation where Mrs. Corona is president.

Alpha list is a document submitted by employers to BIR detailing employees, income earned and tax withheld.

Aside from Cristina’s income, the BIR chief also presented Supreme Court's alpha list which showed Corona's earnings as chief justice.

Henares said Corona’s income in 2006 was P465,000 and P488,000 in 2007. She added that in 2008, the chief justice earned P604,000; P621,000 in 2009; and P657,000 in 2010.

The BIR chief noted that the SC failed to submit its alpha list from 2002 to 2005 when Corona was still sitting as associate justice.

In a press briefing, the prosecution panel concluded that based on Corona's total income, the chief justice does not have the ability to acquire his assets worth P22 million he declared in his 2010 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, House prosecution panel spokesman, stressed that Corona has no other means of income other than his salary as chief justice.

“Malinaw na malinaw na hindi kayang suportahan ng income ni Chief Justice Corona ang mga ari-arian sa kaniyang SALN. Malaki ang disparity nila,” Quimbo said.

Aurora Rep. Sonny Angara also cited the forfeiture law wherein owning assets which are disproportionate to the declared income of the owner leads to the assumption that they were acquired through ill-gotten wealth.

source: ph.news.yahoo.com

Posted in: Philippines News