Corona arraignment on tax evasion set for 4th time

MANILA, Philippines - For the fourth time, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has set the arraignment of ousted chief justice Renato Corona on the tax evasion case filed against him by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The arraignment was set for Monday after the CTA denied for lack of merit a motion for reconsideration filed by Corona. He is appealing an earlier resolution that denied his motion to quash.

The CTA second division had deferred the scheduled arraignment of Corona on April 2, June 4 and Sept. 15 due to numerous motions filed by the defense.

Prior to the consolidation of the 12 counts of tax evasion cases into a single division. Corona is convinced the first and third divisions of the CTA to defer his arraignment in March. The cases were consolidated in the second division in June.

CTA second division Justice Juanito Castañeda inhibited from the case, following a motion filed by Corona.

Records from the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) showed that Corona voted in favor of Castañeda for one of the two vacant posts in the Supreme Court in 2011.

Corona was then the ex-officio chairman of the JBC, which submits to the President a list of nominees for a vacant post.

Despite getting the nod of Corona, Castañeda was not included in the list submitted to the President as he only received two of the eight possible votes.

CTA Associate Justices Caesar Casanova and Amelia Cotangco-Manalastas remain members of the second division handling the case against Corona.