Kaban ni D_BystandeR: LAING ASUNTO NGA PALAS-ANON NI KANHI MAHISTRADO CORONA

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered yesterday the filing of P130.3-million ill-gotten wealth case against former chief justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina before the Sandiganbayan. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said additional criminal charges for eight counts of perjury and multiple violations of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees would also be filed against the former chief justice. The cases all stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman's Field Investigation Office (FIO) that bared how Corona and his wife accumulated unexplained assets from 2001to 2011 which were not declared in their statements of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) during the same period. 

In a 22-page resolution that Morales approved on Tuesday, a special panel of investigators determined that for the 10-year period the Coronas earned a total income of P30.369M of which P27.145M was earned by Corona as an official at the Office of the President, a justice of the Supreme Court, member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and a member of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET). Cristina for her part, supposedly earned P3.223M from 2007 to 2010 based on the Alpha List submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) by the John Hay Development Corp. (JHDC) where she was employed. The Office of the Ombudsman's probe found out that from 2002 to 2010, Corona's actual cash deposits ballooned from P1.337M to P137.937M.

Corona boasted of his being a tax expert that's why he believed he will not be caught in all the things he did to enrich himself, to mislead the investigators. But we should know that the kind of intelligence specialized by a man to hide his money trail is probably no match to the scorchingeyes of the investigators who left no stone unturned in the process of counter-checking all possible loopholes. This is now your payback time Corona! If you were doing "all things" before with impunity under the direction of your master, GMA, because you were her "pet boy" and a No. 1 "attack dog," now is your time to repent and that's good for you.