“Bank accounts are part of a person’s assets” – Tañada

MANILA -- House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo R. Tañada III said Chief Justice Renato Corona’s under-declared banks accounts can also be used as supporting evidence to prove that the High Court could be held accountable for perjury, which is an impeachable offense.

Tañada has pointed out Corona is not above the law and should not be allowed to prevent the presentation of evidence of his dishonesty.

“Bank accounts are part of one’s assets and CJ Renato Corona declared only one million pesos as the amount of his cash and investment.

Therefore those bank accounts must be made available to the court and made open to the public,” Tañada Said.

He said these bank accounts are additional evidence to the acts of concealment by Chief Justice Corona. “But here are also enough evidence of concealment of other assets,” Tañada added.

Tañada quoted Abraham Lincoln, who said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts."

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."

The solon noted the ultimate judge of this impeachment is the people and they must know all the facts. The trial has barred the publicizing of some facts and in effect, the people have been blindfolded, unable to see the whole picture of the impeachment.

"It is the strategy of the defense to delay and to hide facts to the people in order for the people to lose interest in the case and in effect, be apathetic," Tañada said.

"BIR Chief and witness Kim Henares' evidence has shown us that if evidence would be allowed to be presented, the people will really see acts of concealment of Chief Justice Corona and would deduce for themselves that CJ Corona is not fit to continue as Justice of the
Supreme Court, much less, as Chief Justice,” Deputy Tañada said. (Office of HDS Tañada)