IF impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona believes that the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by eight of his cohorts in the Supreme Court last week would squelch speculation as to how much is actually deposited in at least five dollar accounts in one bank alone, he may be in for a rude surprise.

Far from making the issue of his alleged ill-gotten wealth die a natural death, the TRO has merely whetted the interest of many people to find out how big the loot is.

It’s already an open secret that Corona has one FCDU account with an initial deposit of $700,000, or more than P38 million at the 2008 exchange rate.

While no one can fault him for keeping a dollar account, the size of the deposits is what matters as members of the Supreme Court earn no more than P600,000 annually, or P50,000 a month.

Last Thursday, after the SC TRO was announced, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the Impeachment Court would defer to the Supreme Court on the issue of Corona’s dollar deposits, which according to law, should be kept secret.

But Sen. Franklin Drilon is correct: the Impeachment Court should question the SC TRO, and in fact will do so by asking newly appointed Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza to defend it before the High Court.

“We have the right to question it. We can’t just lie down and [sing] alleluia,” said Drilon, adding that “we can’t be interfered with by the Supreme Court. Otherwise, we lose our independence.”

I totally agree: the Impeachment Court would abdicate its responsibility under the Constitution if it kowtows to the Supreme Court on this issue.

The Senate should summon the representatives of banks where Corona is known to keep both peso and dollar accounts because this is in the interest of truth and justice.

The president of Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), Pascual Garcia III, testified on February 8 that impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona had kept at least P24.6 million in five peso accounts between 2007 and 2010.

This tells us very clearly that allegations that Corona may have acquired wealth way beyond  his legitimate income as a member of the Supreme Court are not figments of the imagination.

Garcia also acknowledged that Corona had five dollar accounts with the bank, but clammed up when asked to give details of these, citing the Bank Secrecy Law.

The dollar accounts must be opened because these would provide further evidence that Corona has hidden wealth that may be presumed to be ill-gotten as they were not declared in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth as required of all public officers.

On the basis of Corona’s pesos alone, he can already be convicted for perjury because he declared only about P4 million cash in banks in his SALNs.

If probers find his dollar accounts filled to the brim, that can only mean that Corona has made a pile way beyond his imagination. And the question is: Where did all of it come from? Your guess is as good as mine.

We’re talking only of bank accounts in his name. It is highly possible that he has opened other bank accounts in the name of other family members and relatives, if we’re to go by earlier reports that he has registered various pieces of real-estate property in the name of his two children.

If Corona is found to have other bank accounts using the names of dummies, how can we trust him to stay on as Chief Justice?

I am convinced that far from being a legal victory for Corona, the SC TRO could do more harm than good for him as there will be a louder clamor for him to tell the truth.

If he has nothing to hide, then he would even welcome an honest-to-goodness probe of his dollar deposits.

But the fact that he has run to his colleagues in the High Court for succor means that Corona is already in desperate straits.

Corona, it should be pointed out, is not exactly loved by Filipinos. He is, in fact, the least trusted among the top five government officials, with a double-digit negative rating. The longer he delays speaking out the truth about his actual wealth, the more there will be wild speculation about under-the-table deals that may be the source of his bank loot.

The Supreme Court should keep its hands off the ongoing impeachment trial, and allow the senator-judges to sift the evidence and make an informed judgment.

I don’t believe we will have a constitutional crisis if the Impeachment Court insists on the integrity and independence of its proceedings. After all, it has Constitution behind it. As for Corona, who should be the main defender of the Constitution, he has apparently made it his doormat the way he has trampled on it at every conceivable opportunity. He should seriously consider resigning now and spare himself more public humiliation.

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