CBCP official urges Corona to open bank accounts

MANILA, Feb. 9, 2012— If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

A Catholic Church official posed this statement for Supreme Chief Justice Renato Corona as he urged the latter to allow the opening of his dollar bank accounts with the Philippine Savings Bank.

Fr. Edu Gariguez of the CBCP’s National Secretariat for Social Action said the move is necessary for Corona to prove that there is nothing to be afraid of on his bank records.

“He (Corona) should allow his bank accounts to be examined and prove that there’s nothing with it,” said Gariguez.

“From the start, he said that his conscience is clear and he is willing to undergo the impeachment. So what’s in there that he is afraid of?,” he said.

It was revealed yesterday that Corona has five dollar accounts with the PSBbank but its president refused to submit details to the Senate sitting as an impeachment court for fear of criminal liability.

PSBank president Pascual Garcia III only produced to the chamber five peso accounts in the name of Corona.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court, in an 8-5 vote, stopped the Senate from compelling PSBank from revealing the details of Corona’s dollar bank accounts.

The eight magistrates who voted for the indefinite temporary restraining order (TRO) were Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad, Jose Perez, Lucas Bersamin, Martin Villarama, Bienvenido Reyes, and Jose Mendoza.

Those who dissented were Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Mariano del Castillo, Diosdado Peralta, Maria Lourdes Sereno, and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

Corona and Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco took no part in the deliberations, said Court Administrator and SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez.

But Fr. Gariguez said that if Corona has nothing to hide, he would authorize the opening of his bank accounts to clear his name from allegations of corruption. [CBCPNews]