Corona assets frozen

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has finished garnishing some of the properties of former chief justice Renato Corona and his wife, Cristina, including expensive condominium units that allegedly form part of the couple’s unexplained wealth.

Sheriff IV Alexander Valencia of the anti-graft court’s Second Division chaired by Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos submitted his report last week containing a preliminary listing of garnished properties and bank accounts.

The writ of preliminary attachment issued by the Sandiganbayan works like a freeze order on the assets of the Coronas who are facing a P130.5-million forfeiture case.

Valencia reported serving the garnishment orders on eight properties owned by the spouses including condominium units in One Burgundy Plaza, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City; The Columns, Ayala Avenue, Makati City; Belagio I, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig; and Bonifacio Ridge, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

The former chief justice’s ownership of the properties despite not declaring them in his statements of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALNs) was exposed during his Senate impeachment trial.

Valencia said notices of garnishment were also served to a real property in Maranaw, La Vista, Quezon City as well as three parking lots.

As for assets in the provinces, he reported that there were no records of Corona properties in Batangas except in the cities of Batangas, Lipa, and Tanauan.

The freeze order was also served to the different banks and other financial institutions mentioned in the petition for writ of preliminary attachment but there appears to be very little money left in the bank to garnish.

Valencia said a Bank of the Philippine Islands account only had P1,056.27 while a Philippine National Bank account in Diliman, Quezon City only had P6,524.71.

The Coronas were found to have no existing accounts with Philippine Savings Bank, United Overseas Bank, Metrobank, Chinabank, and Citibank.

They also had no investments with Phil-Am Asset Management Inc. while the Land Bank of the Philippines has yet to report if the spouses have an account with them.

The Sandiganbayan issued a freeze order against the assets of the Corona couple as early as May 2014 but its implementation was delayed because of motions and appeals.

The Sandiganbayan said the freezing of the assets is in order “considering that adequate bases exist which satisfy the requirements set forth under Rule 57 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.”

The freeze order seeks to ensure that if it is proven that the Coronas did acquire the wealth illegally, the same will be recovered by the state in full.

In filing the forfeiture case, the Office of the Ombudsman said the former chief justice and his wife acquired and accumulated ill-gotten wealth from 2001 to 2011 and never declared the assets in their SALNs.