Defense: AMLC report on Corona bank accounts fabricated

The camp of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Wednesday concluded that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report claiming the chief justice maintains 82 dollar accounts was fabricated.

In a statement, the defense camp said they made the conclusion after going over the 17-page AMLC report from which the PowerPoint presentation of hostile witness Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was based.

In the presentation made before the Senate impeachment court last Monday, the Ombudsman showed how Corona allegedly staged “circuitous” transactions in five banks from 2003 to 2011.

“We have already studied the AMLC report and we can say that it is not accurate. We will prove that it is a fabricated evidence,” said defense lawyer and spokesperson Rico Paolo Quicho.

The lawyer did not elaborate how they were able to tell the document was fabricated, saying they are reserving that opportunity in the next days.

“We do not take solace to the transactions as stated in the documents provided by AMLC because we know that this is false and fabricated. In due time, we will be showing our people that government forces against the Chief Justice are really desperate to pin him down,” he said.

Earlier, Quicho accused the Aquino administration of orchestrating moves to “discredit its perceived political enemies at the expense of institutional independence and integrity.”

“We deplore how independent agencies and bodies such as the Ombudsman, the AMLC, the Commission on Audit, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, have been used to score political and media brownie points,” he said.

Quicho criticized both the AMLC and Morales for investigating Corona’s accounts without any court order and without giving the chief magistrate prior notice about the probe, as required under Section 11 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

“Did the Ombudsman have the permission of the Senate impeachment court? Obviously, no… This has been ignored because the Ombudsman says so,” Quicho said.

He also cited Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, which prevents the examination of a depositor’s dollar accounts without his or her consent.

Quicho emphasized that the AMLC report presented by the Ombudsman was not signed and authenticated.

“The Ombudsman is not a competent witness. It is important to go to the source documents, which is a another issue,” he said.

On Wednesday, Sen. Edgardo Angara said Corona’s accounts could already be scrutinized because of the waiver he signed in his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).

It was the defense panel who asked the Ombudsman to testify, and that should qualify the presentation of the alleged dollar accounts to the public, the lawmaker added.

In a statement on Tuesday, Corona had already reiterated that he would not resign from his post, saying: “Tuloy ang laban.” —VS, GMA News

CJ Corona to testify in his impeachment trial on May 22

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and the defense panel on Wednesday agreed that Chief Justice Renato Corona will take the witness stand in his impeachment trial next Tuesday, some four months after the trial started. Corona will be the last defense witness to be presented in the impeachment case.

Enrile initially directed the defense to present Corona on Monday, but one of the magistrate’s lawyers pleaded for more time.

“While we would like to give our best ,the sheer number [of documents we have to review] is awesome,” said defense lawyer Jose “Judd” Roy III.

Roy also noted that senators are scheduled to hold a caucus on Monday, but Enrile insisted the caucus will not affect the defense’s preparation anyway and that Corona’s lawyers will have an entire weekend to prepare.

Roy insisted that the defense be allowed to present Corona on Tuesday instead.

“So that you would not think we are biased against him, granted. But there will be no more postponement,” Enrile said. —VS/HS, GMA News

Fil-Am Sanchez makes it to American Idol’s top 3

And then there were three.

From thousands of hopefuls, three contestants have been chosen to vie for the much coveted American Idol Season 11 crown, and one of them is Filipino-Mexican-American Jessica Sanchez.

Out of 70 million votes cast Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), Sanchez emerged in the top three along with Phillip Phillips and Joshua Ledet.

All of them will perform next week to determine who will be the two finalists to vie for the AI crown.

Hollie Cavanagh got the lowest number of votes and was eliminated.

By being in the top three in this year’s American Idol, Sanchez has achieved what Fil-Am Jasmine Trias did before. Trias also made it to the top three in American Idol Season 3.

Standing ovation

Sanchez got a standing ovation Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) from AI judges for her rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” by Jennifer Holliday.

Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson only had good words for the petite 16-year-old.

“Another winning performance. Just over the top,” Tyler said.

“With a performance like that there is nothing to say. That was amazing,” Lopez added.

Jackson said, “This is one of the hardest songs to sing. You got up there and slayed it.”

Sanchez also sang “Steal Away” by Etta James and got positive reviews too from the judges.

Fans celebrate

Pinoys on social media are celebrating the latest win of Sanchez. (GMA News)

Aquino appoints Mosquera as new deputy Ombudsman for Luzon

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has chosen Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Commissioner Gerard Mosquera as the deputy ombudsman for Luzon.

Mosquera on Friday took his oath of office at the Office of the Ombudsman before Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, who also administered the oath of office of Vice President Jejomar Binay and President Aquino in 2010.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the said position has a fixed term of seven years.

Mosquera, a member of Batch 82 of the Notre Dame of Dadiangas University HS who was appointed as one of the three new commissioners of the PCGG by President Aquino, placed second in the 1992 Bar exams after graduating from Ateneo Law School with honors.

The young lawyer who is married to Dr. Myra Nissa Pahm-Mosquera, a dentist, with whom he has four children, has just been awarded last May 25 the 2010 Lucius N. Littauer Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The award is the highest recognition granted by the Harvard Kennedy School for exemplary academic achievement, public service and leadership.

Mosquera recently graduated with a Master’s in Public Administration degree and was among the top five percent of Harvard Kennedy School’s Class of 2010 composed of almost 600 students coming from 80 nations.

The Harvard University JFK School of Government is the leading institution for specialized training for leaders in government in advancing public interests and welfare.

Before this, in 2002, as a recipient of the Chevening scholarship, he got his Master in Laws degree from Kings College, University of London.

All his life, Atty. Mosquera has been active in anti-corruption work.

Before his appointment to the PCGG, he has been holding the position as chief of party of the USAID’s anti-corruption programs in Timor-Leste since 2005.

Prior to that, he was also the technical adviser for anti-corruption to the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor.

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) short-listed four nominees for the position vacated by Francis Jardeleza last February after his appointment as solicitor general.

In deliberations, Mosquera topped the list after getting the votes of eight members of the council chaired by Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Mosquera was earlier nominated by the JBC for the position of Ombudsman, which went to retired SC justice Conchita Carpio Morales.

Graft investigator Roque Dator, a former seminarian, placed second in the shortlist with six votes. He was a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas College of Law.

Dator and Mosquera topped the JBC shortlist, from where Jardeleza was handpicked by President Aquino in July last year.

Aside from Dator and Mosquera, Marifi Chua, Marivic Balisi-Umali, Geraldine Faith Econg, Victorio Mario Dimagiba and Office of the Ombudsman officials Diosdado Calonge, Jose de Jesus, Rudiger Falcis II and Raul Marifosque also vied for the post.

De Lima won’t issue lookout order vs Panamanian diplomat

The Panamanian national who was accused of raping a 19-year-old girl can now get away with any criminal liability after the Department of Justice (DOJ) affirmed the legality of diplomatic immunity granted to him by the government.

Secretary Leila de Lima said there were legal grounds that merits the release of Erick Bairnals Shcks as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was merely complying with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations when it issued certification for immunity that led to diplomat’ release.

According to De Lima, the DFA is the agency with primary competence or authority on the matter.

“The immunity from criminal jurisdiction accorded to Mr. Schcks under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was indeed valid,” De Lima said.

De Lima said there were no legal reasons to merit a possible inclusion of Shcks’ name in the lookout bulletin of the Bureau of Immigration.

She said it would not be proper for her, both legally and diplomatically, to issue a lookout bulletin order.

A technical officer of the Panama Maritime Authority, Schcks was arrested on April 24 over a rape complaint in Makati City.

However, after the DFA granted immunity to the 35-year-old Panamian, a Makati court ordered his immediate release.

In recent interviews, De Lima promised to conduct a deeper probe into the case, but found that Schcks is covered by an immunity grant.

Should the Panamanian government waive his immunity, De Lima reiterated that Schcks could only stand trial in Philippine court.

As to the case of Schks, the Justice Secretary believes there is a need to balance this pursuit of justice with existing legal principles. (mtimes)

China warns citizens to stay off Manila streets ahead of May 11 protests

China warned its citizens in Manila to stay off the streets and take precautions during planned anti-Chinese protests on Friday, another sign of mounting tensions during a standoff in the resource-rich West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The planned protest of about 1,000 people could heighten tensions between China and the Philippines over what is known as the Scarborough Shoal in English and Huangyan Island in Chinese in the southeastern region of the disputed waters. The Philippine name for it is Panatag Shoal.

On Tuesday, China’s embassy in Manila posted an advisory on its website asking its citizens to stay indoors, avoid demonstrations and refrain from confrontations with locals, anticipating a “large-scale” anti-China protest on Friday.

That coincided with a stern warning from Beijing that China had made “every preparation” to counter what it called a potential expansion of the conflict by the Philippines, one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia.

Civil society and political groups with links to President Benigno Aquino’s political allies plan to take to the streets on Friday to protest the Chinese presence in the Scarborough Shoal, which Manila says is within its jurisdiction.

A spokesman of China’s foreign ministry accused Manila of using the standoff to incite domestic opinion, adding it has “damaged the atmosphere of Sino-Philippine relations.”

The protest organizers plan similar actions in China’s embassies and consulates in the United States, Canada, Australia, Italy and other Asian capitals.

“We are seeking a peaceful solution through political and diplomatic means,” said Risa Hontiveros, a former lawmaker and member of Akbayan party, one of the protest organizers.

Akbayan is among political parties allied with Aquino. Its leader, Ronald Llamas, sits in the Cabinet as political adviser and two of its members in the House of Representatives organized a trip to the contested Spratly islands last year.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a statement Washington has reaffirmed its commitment to help Manila if violence erupts in the disputed seas, citing a 1951 mutual defense pact with the United States.

The warning by Beijing comes as tensions in the West Philippine Sea enter a new and more contentious chapter, with claimant nations searching deeper into disputed waters for energy supplies while building up their navies and military alliances, especially with the United States.

Proven and undiscovered oil reserve estimates in the region range as high as 213 billion barrels of oil, the US Energy Information Administration said in a 2008 report. That would surpass every country’s proven oil reserves except Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, according to the BP Statistical Review.

China, which claims the South China Sea as its territory based on historical records, has disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan over the waters.

The standoff in the shoal began in April when a Philippines Navy surveillance plane spotted eight Chinese fishing boats in the area. Manila responded by sending its largest warship, a US Hamilton-class cutter, to check on the Chinese presence.

That standoff now involves four Chinese maritime surveillance ships and eight Chinese fishing boats, and a Filipino coast guard ship and several fishing boats. —HS/Reuters/ GMA News

PRESS FREEDOM PARTY CRUSHES MEDIA REFORM MOVEMENT IN NPC ELECTIONS

THE Press Freedom Party formed by outgoing National Press Club (NPC) president, Jerry Yap and incoming president, Benny Antiporda, completely dominated the just concluded NPC elections with a 15 – 0 win against its opponent, the Media Reform Movement of block time broadcaster, Percy Lapid.

Antiporda, publisher and columnist of Remate; and his runningmate, Marlon Purificacion, columnist and Senate reporter of People’s Tonight; totally overwhelmed the tandem of Lapid, a block timer for DWIZ and Amor Virata, publisher of a weekly tabloid, with votes of 472 and 498, respectively, against 207 and 158 votes respectively for Lapid and Virata or a winning margin of over 100 percent.

Antiporda, NPC president from 2008 to 2010, decided to run anew in order to continue the many programs that he and Yap had started for the NPC since they formed the PFP in 2006.

Earlier during the club’s general assembly meeting, a heated argument ensued among those present after the group of Lapid tried to push for the postponement of the elections, claiming “lack of quorum” and “failure of elections.”

The general membership, however, immediately saw thru the ploy and voted to have the proposal trashed and for the elections to proceed as provided for in the club’s charter.

The NPC By-Laws mandates that the biennial elections for all executive positions and the 10-seats for the Board of Directors shall be held on the first Sunday of May.

The schedule can only be changed with the consent of the general assembly.

One irate member of the press described the effort of Lapid’s camp to cancel the elections as a “cheap ploy because they are already aware they simply don’t enjoy the support and the trust of the majority of the working press in the country.”

Completing the victory for the PFP is the domination made by its candidates of the ten seats for the NPC Board of Directors.

The 15 – 0 sweep by the PFP of all the contested positions is the first of its kind in the history of the NPC since the club’s first election was held 59 years ago.

Antiporda said with the elections over, they are now reaching out to their beaten opponents in order to promote unity among members of the press.

“The elections are over, our membership has spoken. The period of politicking is now over; it is time once again for all members of the press to unite for the common good,” Antiporda said. (Journal)