'Coronas own 45 properties'

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona and his family have at least 45 condominium units, lots and other real estate properties in Metro Manila, House impeachment prosecutors revealed yesterday.

Prosecutors attached to their request for subpoenas for the Coronas a list of properties in their names. The list was given to prosecution panel head Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. by Land Registration Authority administrator Eulalio Diaz.

Diaz also sent Tupas certified true copies of the Coronas’ titles to their properties, which consist of 13 condominium units and 32 houses and lots or lots.

The Chief Justice denied the allegations. “If they find those they can take them. I’ll execute deed of donation,” he told reporters in an ambush interview. “Hindi ako magnanakaw tulad nila (I am not a thief like them),” he said.

Some 27 of the properties are in the names of Corona and his wife Cristina. The others are in the names of his daughter Carla Corona and her husband Constantino Castillo III, son Francis and daughter Charina.

Of the 27 pieces of real estate under the names of the Chief Justice and his wife, 12 are condominium units – 10 in Taguig City, one in Makati, and one in Quezon City.

The remaining 15 are either houses and lots or lots – eight in Marikina City, two in Taguig City and five in Quezon City.

The condominium units are covered by condominium certificates of title (CCT), while the houses and lots or lots are covered by transfer certificates of title.

Last week, the House prosecution panel revealed that Corona and his wife acquired a 303.5-square meter penthouse at the Bellagio Tower at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig for P14.5 million.

In his answer to the impeachment complaint, the Chief Justice acknowledged owning a 300-square meter apartment in Taguig, which he said was acquired on installment. He gave no other details.

The Coronas’ real property list showed that some of the real estate attributed to the Chief Justice and his family are not in their names.

For instance, the 33rd in the listing (TCT No. 226256) is in the name of the National Housing Authority, while the 44th (TCT 84241) is in the name of former Quezon City mayor Ismael Mathay Jr. Another (CCT No. 11168) is under the name of Burgundy Realty Corp.

Sought for comment on this, prosecution panel spokesman Rep. Miro Quimbo of Marikina said these were either owned by the Coronas or to be transferred to the Coronas.

He said the Quezon City properties include a huge lot inside the exclusive La Vista subdivision, which is home to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed Corona as associate justice and later as chief justice. He said House prosecutors would prove that the Chief Justice and his wife do not have the legal means to acquire the properties listed in their names. With Edu Punay