MANILA, Philippines - How can a supposedly fake bank document contain correct information about the accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona?

This is the reason of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada when asked why he thinks a Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) document submitted by House prosecutors for the Corona impeachment trial is genuine and not fake.

"The bank says it's fake but in my opinion, it's not fake. My grounds for that is that on the left corner of the document, it has peso accounts and they are existing as testified to by the PSBank president. Existing [ang accounts]. May pera e," he told radio dzMM.

Further bolstering his theory is that PSBank President Pascual Garcia had already confirmed that 10 accounts indicated in the document exist, which includes 5 dollar accounts.

Prosecutors have said there are 14 account numbers on the document but 4 are illegible.

PSBank Katipunan branch manager Annabel Tiongson earlier testified that Corona's 5 peso accounts were time deposits. Bank records showed Corona had P19.7 million cash in 2 PSBank by end-December 2010.

Garcia and Tiongson earlier testified that the bank document submitted by the prosecution was "spurious" and "fake."

Pressed further, Garcia said the bank document attached to the Senate subpoena for Corona's bank records had "differences when compared to the originals."

These include highlights, underlined items and even a marking of "PEP" or "politically exposed personality", which is absent in the original. On the other hand, Garcia noted that signatures on the originals were missing in the House prosecutors' document.

Garcia admitted that the document is similar to other documents provided by the bank to its customers. He said such documents contained information on both the peso and dollar accounts of depositors.

Senate must weigh 'falsifications'

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has ordered Garcia to produce the originals of the bank document to compare it with the submitted document.

He said portions pertaining to Corona's dollar deposits could be taped over so as not to violate a Supreme Court temporary restraining order (TRO) against the opening of Corona's dollar accounts.

"It's not our fault that you put the peso and dollar account in just one record," he told Garcia.

He also ordered the bank to produce specimen signatures of bank officers whose signatures appear on the document.

Enrile said it is up to the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, to weigh the alleged alterations on the bank document.

"If this document is found to be falsified in some respect, then we will determine whether the falsification is substantial enough to exclude this evidence as an evidence in this case and to make those responsible for the alterations responsible for it and answer for it," he said.

He added that it will be the burden of the prosecution why they asked for subpoenas from the court on the basis of an altered document.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the PSBank witnesses have been "very, very evasive" about the supposed differences in the document.

Rep. Miro Quimbo, prosecution panel spokesman, said Garcia did not say outright that the document was fake but waited only after the Supreme Court TRO came out to say it.

"Bakit ngayong may TRO now it is fake? There is seeming inconsistency. They could have told the Senate impeachment court that it was fake from the onset," he said in a press conference.

Tupas and Tiongson

Estrada also said he does not believe that Tiongson and Tupas do not know each other.

During Wednesday's hearing, the senator pointed out that Tiongson and Tupas both hail from Iloilo. He said Tiongson’s first cousin, Roberto 'Obet' Buenaflor Armada, was vice governor when Tupas’ father and namesake was governor.

He also revealed that Tiongson’s cousin, Obet, ran as vice governor in 2010. His running mate then was Raul Tupas, who ran for governor. The latter is Tupas’ brother.

He said that while he respects Tupas' position that he said he does not know Tiongson, he does not believe it.

However, he said he has no evidence that Tiongson leaked the bank document to Tupas.