Chief Justice Renato Corona was found guilty of betrayal of public trust for not declaring his true wealth in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
Corona failed to declare a total of $2.4 million in bank accounts.
19 out of 22 senator judges voted “guilty” on Tuesday, May 29, 2012, when only 16 votes were needed to convict Corona and impeach him from his position.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s “guilty” vote made it a total of 20. In explanation of his vote, he said that Corona is duty-bound to declare his peso and even dollar deposits in his SALN. “I vote to hold Renato Corona guilty as charged under Article 2.”
Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment refers to the filing of SALN where Corona was accused of concealing some properties and cash deposits in his SALN since 2002.
Only 3 senators believed he was “not guilty,” among them were Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
The senators were given much time to explain their votes and among the longest speech was that of Senator Santiago who voted “not guilty.” She said that not declaring that much of an amount should not be a basis for impeachment as she was sure many politicians have undeclared properties/wealth.
The last day of the impeachment trial was aired live by ABS-CBN replacing most of its regular afternoon programs.
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