Barrio Siete

Corona camp files motion vs subpoena on bank records

Snow — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:22:49 +0000

The camp of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday formally opposed the Senate impeachment court’s decision allowing his bank records to be subpoenaed to the proceedings. In a seven-page motion, Corona’s counsel said the documents should be deemed “inadmissible and irrelevant” to the proceedings. The defense also noted that the Senate had earlier ruled that no evidence should be presented in connection with Paragraph 2.4 of Article II of the impeachment complaint, which is about Corona’s alleged ill-gotten wealth. “The introduction of the subpoenaed documents relating to CJ Corona’s bank deposits should therefore ...

5 or 10 or 20 or 45, Corona did not declare these assets’

Snow — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:47:21 +0000

Spokespersons of the prosecution in the trial of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona on Friday said the criticism directed at it for its failure to present proof of his purported 45 properties is not only undeserved but also missed the point of the impeachment. “They claimed we have lost the case because we only presented 25 and not 45 [properties]. But whether it is 5 or 10 or 20 or 45, the point is he did not disclose and declare them for years. And why were these declared at very low ...

Witness admits not knowing about Corona’s loan, wife’s company’s transactions

Snow — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:07:55 +0000

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official, who was asked by House prosecutors to testify on the company that allegedly loaned Chief Justice Renato Corona P11 million, on Wednesday admitted that he didn’t really know anything about the firm and its transactions. Benito Cataran, director of the SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department, testified during the day’s trial that they had already revoked the license and dissolved Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. in 2003, the year Corona got a P11-million loan from the firm. Cataran likewise said that Corona nor his wife Cristina, the ...

Facebook Blunder

Mel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:15:59 +0000

This morning my sister texted me to read the Facebook status of a schoolmate who is now in Canada (because of work), which caused a little chaos within our circle of friends and schoolmates. This was her Facebook status: “hahahahaha natatawa ako sa mga ibang taong nasa pinas at napaka OA ng mga status dito sa facebook kami nga na nasa abroad wala lang.. pwede ba relax and be yourself. at sa mga ibang taong nandito sa abroad perte ang mga pictures oi unsa nakalitan mo na naka abot mo dri sa ...

Sen. Lito Lapid’s wife arrested for ‘dollar-smuggling’, wears anklet monitor

Snow — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:37:46 +0000

MANILA, Philippines – The wife of Sen. Lito Lapid is now required to wear an ankle monitor after being placed under house arrest in the US for allegedly smuggling $50,000 in cash last November 27. Marissa Lapid was arrested at the Las Vegas International Airport last January 15. The arrest was based on a warrant issued last January 5 for allegedly smuggling $50,000 in cash last Nov. 27. In a copy of the arrest warrant obtained by ABS-CBN North America News Bureau’s Bev Llorente, the senator’s wife said she only had with ...

Drilon ‘will not inhibit’ from Corona impeachment trial

Snow — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:29:39 +0000

Senator Franklin Drilon will not withdraw from the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, even after the defense panel accused him of partiality and asked the senator-judge to inhibit himself from the trial. “The rules of the Senate is that the rules of inhibition is addressed to the person… the senator, and I will not inhibit because there is no basis for the motion to inhibit me,” he said. In a motion filed Thursday before the Senate as an impeachment court, the defense said Drilon showed his partiality at least twice ...

Mike Arroyo: Iggy Arroyo is dead

Snow — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:19:49 +0000

Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo Jr. died Thursday after life-support systems were removed from his body, said his brother, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo. “Support systems were pulled out already thirty minutes ago. My brother passed away already. I’m so sad,” he said. The Negros lawmaker was earlier declared “clinically dead” and was only relying on life support systems after he suffered a cardiac arrest Wednesday night. “At that point, an ambulance was called for him in London. He was revived at the hospital but he went into a coma. ...

Prosecution moves to summon SEC records on Corona wife’s firm

Snow — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:58:18 +0000

The House prosecution team on Tuesday asked the Senate impeachment court to summon corporate records from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pertaining to a company owned by the wife of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona. The prosecution wants the Senate to subpoena the SEC’s director of Company Registration and Monitoring Department to bring original and certified true copies of the articles of incorporation of Basa-Guidote Enterpises Inc., owned by Mrs. Cristina Corona, the prosecution said in a statement. It also wants the SEC to present the company’s general information sheet and ...

‘Corona impeachment raps cover ill-gotten wealth’

Snow — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:53:42 +0000

MANILA, Philippines (UDPATE) – The impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona covers the issue of ill-gotten wealth since the respondent himself acknowledged the charge, a law expert said Saturday. This week’s proceedings saw defense lawyers posing continuous objection to prosecutors’ presentation of evidence on Corona’s alleged illegal wealth, a charge they claimed was not made properly in Article 2 of the impeachment complaint. But Amado Valdez, dean of the University of the East College of Law, said that Article 2 is “already sufficiently informative as far as what the accusation is,” ...

It’s a go for ‘More Fun in the Philippines’ campaign

Snow — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:40:22 +0000

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang assured the public yesterday that the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) slogan and campaign “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” will be implemented despite some criticisms. “The response has been very positive. To my knowledge, it has been very positive so we have no problem with the slogan of DOT,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters in a press briefing. Lacierda also clarified that the more than P5-million budget for the tourism campaign was not just for the slogan, but for the whole marketing strategy. The DOT is being criticized ...