(Editor’s intro: Raissa, foreign correspondent for South China Morning Post and Radio Netherlands, is an independent blogger.)
Our Plaza Miranda Exclusive –
Chief Justice Renato Corona listed the Marikina property as an “Asset” in his 1992 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) two years after his wife Cristina sold it to his cousin.
This point – raised by Senator Judge Ralph Recto – was probably the most interesting revelation in the four hour-long testimony on March 12 of CJ Corona’s buyer-cousin, Demetrio Vicente.
Defense out to prove genuine sale
Vicente’s direct testimony for the defense was devoted to proving that Cristina Corona really sold her Marikina property and therefore CJ Corona was justified in no longer reporting it in his SALNs when he became a member of the Supreme Court in 2002.
This was even though the country’s land records – maintained by the Registry of Deeds – still lists Mrs Corona to this day as the owner of seven parcels of land in Marikina totaling 1,700 square meters.
Last January 12 before the start of the impeachment trial, the prosecution had listed the Marikina properties as among CJ Corona’s “undeclared wealth”. House prosecution lawyer Jose Justiniano, who grilled Vicente, insisted that the sale between Vicente and Mrs Corona was merely “simulated”.
Note that the prosecution was then unaware that Mrs Corona had also served as an “Attorney-in-fact” in the sale of the adjacent Marikina lot owned by her sister Miriam Roco.
Vicente’s direct testimony was intended to destroy the argument of the prosecution and show that the sale of Cristina’s Marikina lot was a done deal even though Vicente had never transferred the property to his name.
Vicente vehemently denied during his testimony he was a “dummy”.
While Vicente looked and sounded credible as a witness, other points surfaced during the cross-examination by the prosecution and the Senator-judges, as well as the subsequent redirect examination by the defense that made the Marikina transaction questionable.
For instance, Vicente said during his cross-examination by the prosecution that CJ Corona himself had stood as a “witness” during the July 26, 1990 signing of the Deed of Absolute Sale between him and Mrs Corona. And although both buyer and seller lived in Quezon City, the Deed was notarized all the way in Makati City by a certain Maria Beatriz Mantoya.
Vicente reveals during defense’ redirect there was actually a back-to-back sale
Vicente also revealed for the first time that a second Deed of Absolute Sale was notarized that same day. It was for the sale of 1,700 square meters of property owned by Cristina’s sister, Miriam.
Vicente claimed Cristina had a “Power-of-Attorney” from Miriam to sell the latter’s similarly-sized lot.
Thus, in all, Vicente said he had bought 3,4000 square meters from both sisters.
But prosecution cast doubts on sale
The prosecution, however, cast doubts on the authenticity of that Deed of Absolute Sale between Cristina Corona and Vicente for here seven parcels of land. It obtained a document from the Makati Regional Trial Court saying:
This is to certify that in accordance with the records of this office, a certain Maria Beatriz S. Mantoya has never been commissioned by this court as notary public for and in the city of Makati.
In other words, Mantoya was a fake notary public when she notarized the Deed of Absolute Sale, thus rendering the document invalid as a public document but valid as a private contract between two parties.
Did CJ Corona and the defense lawyers know that Mantoya was not a genuine notary public when she notarized the Deed of Sale?
Disclaimer: The views in this blog are those of the blogger and do not necessarily reflect the views of ABS-CBN Corp.