Senate Upholds SC TRO On Dollar Accounts of Corona

The Senate voted 13-10 to concur to the TRO issued by the Supreme Court to stop the release of CJ Corona's foreign currency account

The Senate sitting as an impeachment court voted 13-10 to uphold the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court stopping PS Bank from releasing Chief Justice Renato Corona's foreign currency account.

There will be no opening of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s PS Bank dollar account. This after the Senate upheld the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court on the controversial dollar account of the Chief Justice. Voting 13-10, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile bared that the decision was reached through a caucus prior to the trial. The Supreme Court voted 8-5 to issue a temporary restraining order stopping Philippine Savings Bank from releasing information on Chief Justice Renato Corona’s dollar accounts in the bank. The Foreign Currency Deposit Act prohibits opening of dollar accounts, unless authorized by the depositor.

The thirteen senators who voted to uphold the SC TRO were Enrile, Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, MannyVillar, Ralph Recto, Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Loren Legarda, Gregorio “Gringo’’ Honasan, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr., Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada. Voting against the TRO were Senate Minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano , Senators Franklin Drilon, Serge Osmena III, Edgardo Angara, Pia Cayetano, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, Lito Lapid and Teofisto Guingona III. However, although accepting the SC decision, Senator Enrile said that they will continue to reserve its right to vigorously defend its position that it has exclusive jurisdiction over the decisions related to the impeachment case. Prior to the TRO, the Senate sitting as an impeachment court agreed to allow the opening of Corona’s dollar accounts.

Meanwhile, Malacanang on Monday concurred to the decision of the impeachment court to uphold the TRO of the Supreme Court prohibiting the opening of Chief Justice Corona’s dollar account. In a statement, Malacanang spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that “The truth will prevail and there are more fights before the decision comes out. Earlier, President Aquino challenged Chief Justice Renato Corona to disclose his dollar accounts. And said that, he should not seek refuge on the Bank Secrecy Law. He likened the issuance of the TRO on Corona’s dollar account to the TRO on the watch list order of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

However, Karen Jimeno, spokeswoman of Corona’s defense team, said that the President cannot issue such challenge because it was not a crime in the first place. Time and time again, Chief Justice Renato Corona said that his foreign currency account was his savings before he joined the Supreme Court. Then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Corona as Associate Justice in 2002. Eight years later, he was appointed Chief Justice.