Prosecution tries to pin Corona
on La Vista purchase

PROSECUTION LAWYERS tried to pin down Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona based on how he and his wife Cristina could have purchased an P11 million property in La Vista subdivision when the couple had reported no other source of income other than Corona’s salary as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Prosecution lawyer Arthur Lim asked Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares when Cristina Corona became a taxpayer. Henares said Cristina Corona only acquired a Tax Identification Number or TIN in 2003, when she applied for a one-time TIN for the purchase of an P11 million lot in La Vista.

This, Henares said, means that Cristina Corona did not, on record, report any legal income prior to 2003.

In this case, Lim said, how could the couple have afforded the purchase of the La Vista property. “A taxpayer without income buying property worth P 11 million?” Lim said. “What is your position on this,” Lim asked Henares.

Henares failed to directly answer the question, saying she was only made aware of these details last Friday, January 20.