Corona arraignment deferred anew

MANILA, Philippines - The scheduled arraignment of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona on the tax evasion case filed against was postponed for the fifth time on Monday due to the declaration of a special non-working holiday.

The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) second division, which is handling the case against the former magistrate, is expected to release a new schedule for Corona’s arraignment for allegedly failing to pay P120.5 million in taxes.

The CTA set the arraignment of Corona on Monday after it was postponed on Dec. 8, 2014 when work at government offices had been suspended due to Typhoon Ruby.

However, Malacañang later declared Jan. 16, 17 and 19 as special non-working holidays in Metro Manila due to the arrival of Pope Francis in the country.

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

Justice inhibits from case

Meanwhile, Associate Justice Juanito Castañeda – presiding justice of the CTA’s second division – voluntarily inhibited from the case following a motion to inhibit filed by Corona.

Records from the Judicial and Bar Council showed that Corona voted in favor of Castañeda for one of the two vacant posts in the Supreme Court in 2011. Corona, then chief justice, was 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, however, 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.