THE COURT of Tax Appeals (CTA) en banc has stopped its Second Division from proceeding with the Wednesday arraignment of former Chief Justice Renato C. Corona for tax evasion.
In a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) dated Oct. 6, the court directed the Second Division to “refrain from taking any further action” on the six counts of violating Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC).
Arraignment for Section 254, which covers attempted tax evasion, was already deferred several times, as Mr. Corona protested that he should be arraigned only for violating Section 255, which refers to the failure to pay taxes. He argued both sections of the NIRC constituted the same acts of tax evasion.
When the Second Division rejected his motion with finality, Mr. Corona was prompted to elevate the protest before the court en banc in July, finally securing a stay order this week.
In the meantime, the court en banc ordered the case set for oral arguments on Oct. 20, 1:30 p.m.
Issues to be discussed were: whether the court en banc has jurisdiction to entertain the protest and whether offenses listed under Section 254 are necessarily included in the offenses under Section 255.
The Second Division on Sept. 7 said the Oct. 7 resetting would be “the last time” Mr. Corona’s arraignment for the Section 254 cases would be deferred. This was to give way for the court en banc to resolve the pending injunction request.
In exchange, Mr. Corona’s lawyer, Reody Anthony M. Balisi, assured the court they would not ask for a deferment anymore should they fail to secure the stay order.
But with the court issuing the TRO, the arraignment for the Section 254 cases would now be deferred for the 12th time. No new date has been announced.
He was initially supposed to be arraigned on Sept. 15, 2014. This was delayed to give the prosecution time to comment on his motion to quash information, which was later denied by the court.
Arraignment later set on Dec. 8 and then Jan. 19 were postponed because of typhoon Ruby (international name: Hagupit) and the papal visit of Pope Francis.
On Feb. 2, arraignment was again postponed when Mr. Corona asked the CTA to quash the cases against him, considering the Supreme Court’s August 2014 resolution imposing a three-year limit on the Commissioner of Internal Revenue’s request for justices’ Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs).
Mr. Corona was finally arraigned for violations of the tax code’s Section 255 on Feb. 25. The court entered a not guilty plea for him after he refused to plead. But the arraignment for violation of Section 254 was deferred anew that day, and then postponed for the sixth time on April 15.
On May 6, the defense asked for reconsideration after the tax court first junked their motion to dismiss the Section 254 cases. Arraignment was postponed for an eighth time on July 1, when Mr. Corona skipped the hearing, complaining of swollen legs.
It was reset to July 22, but this was postponed for the ninth time when the defense filed the motion to suspend proceedings pending en banc action and prosecutors were required to comment.
On July 27, the arraignment was reset for the tenth time because prosecutors have only submitted their comment on the motion to suspend proceedings that morning. The Sept. 7 arraignment came with the 11th deferment that would have been the last had the Second Division been allowed to pursue the case.
The charges Mr. Corona was arraigned for arose from his alleged failure to file income tax returns and pay taxes for the years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010, broken down as follows:
• 2003: P3,944,275.26
• 2004: P5,824,771.58
• 2005: P5,700,037.57
• 2007: P7,269,149.37
• 2008: P10,861,770.81
• 2010: P16,980,059.48
If convicted of the charges under Section 255, Mr. Corona may be fined a minimum of P10,000, and face imprisonment of a minimum of one year to a maximum of 10 years. The penalty for the deferred charges for violating Section 254, meanwhile, is a fine of P30,000-P100,000 and imprisonment of two to four years.
Mr. Corona was impeached by the Senate on May 29, 2012, voting 20-3 after a much-publicized trial that went on for six months. -- Vince Alvic Alexis F. Nonato
source: Businessworld
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