MANILA, Philippines – Day 9 of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona turned out to be an embarrassment for the prosecution after its own witness, Megaworld senior vice-president for marketing and sales Noli Hernandez, testified that it was "force majeure" which prompted the company to give a 40% discount amounting to P10 million to Corona for his condominium at The Bellagio in Fort Bonifacio.

Hernandez told the impeachment court on Tuesday they voluntarily gave Corona a P10-million price reduction for his penthouse unit due to "force majeure" and not for any consideration from a high-ranking government official.

He said the penthouse sold to the Coronas was originally priced at P24 million, but “unfortunately, a typhoon struck and the unit sustained damages.”

He said they gave a nearly P5-million price reduction--from P24 million to P19.6 million--to the chief justice. Hernandez said the price reduction would have been given regardless of who the buyer was.

Hernandez added the selling price was later reduced by another P5 million, representing discounts and other factors because the Coronas were prompt payers. They paid in four installments in about a year.

Hernandez said it was also his decision to drastically reduce the price since the company was confronted with a global recession.

He also claimed he did not even know it was the Coronas who were buying the penthouse unit.

Private prosecutor Joseph Joemer Perez wanted to prove that the P10-million discount was a shady deal, especially since Corona did not inhibit in cases of Megaworld pending before the Supreme Court (SC).

Hernandez was more prepared than the prosecution, however, as he brandished several decisions that showed that the firm, in fact, lost several times in the high court.

In the case of Megaworld Globus Asia versus Tanseco, which the SC disposed of on October 9, 2009, Megaworld lost for its failure to complete and deliver a condominium unit to its buyer. Megaworld was ordered to pay P21 million. 

In another decision in 2007 entitled Megaworld Globus Asia Inc versus Clerica Holdings Inc., the court also ordered Megaworld to pay a client around P26 million.

Both cases were concurred in by Corona.

Defense lawyer Tranquil Salvador, meanwhile, admitted that Corona was the ponente of a Supreme Court decision favoring Megaworld in 2004 when the latter was not yet chief magistrate. He, however, said Corona was only 1 vote in the SC, and that Megaworld had lost 3 of 4 cases filed before the SC since Corona joined the Court.

Megaworld: No favor from Chief Justice

Megaworld, a publicly-listed corporation, issued a statement on Tuesday belying allegations that the discount was given in exchange for favors from the chief justice.

In a statement, the Andrew Tan-led property firm dubbed as "baseless and malicious" allegations that it sold the unit at a steep discount in consideration for favorable decisions in cases involving it before the SC.

"For the record, we wish to state that in all our business dealings with Chief Justice Corona, the company has neither solicited nor obtained any favor either from the Chief Justice or from the court," Megaworld said.

The prosecution first wanted to present as witness an official of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), saying the subpoena was issued for Hernandez to appear on Wednesday.

Hernandez later appeared with Perez, after a brief talk at the holding room. The subpoena for Hernandez says he is to appear at 2:00 p.m. on January 31, 2012, Tuesday.

Impeaching own witness

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile several times twitted Perez for cross-examining his own witness.

“You’re twisting his answer, the reduction is done voluntarily by the seller. So it can’t be said that it’s a discount, they [Megaworld] lowered the price themselves,” Enrile told Perez.

Enrile noted Perez was already moving to impeach his own witness.

Enrile later allowed Hernandez to leave the witness stand, but reminded the prosecution to talk to its witnesses so that both will know the line of questioning during the proceedings.

Several senator-judges likewise twitted the prosecution.

Senator-judges Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Pia Cayetano said they could not connect the issue of the price reduction of the Bellagio unit to what has been alleged in Article 2, which is about the non-disclosure of Corona's statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Senator-judge Manuel Villar also stood up to say some real estate firms really do give discounts as high as 40%. He said there was a firm last year that offered its units at a 40% discount.

He did not immediately disclose it was SM Development Corp. (SMDC), drawing laughs from the audience. Villar is the owner of Vista Land, a competitor of SMDC.

Senator-judge Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III told the prosecution today not to include anymore the issue of the P10-million "discount" in the impeachment trial.

"Payong kapatid sa prosecution…hindi kami nakumbinsi sa ‘discount’ sa Article 2, huwag niyo nang pilitin [ang discount] sa Article 3," he told the prosecutors.

Prosecution admits unpreparedness

Prosecutor Perez conceded they did not have time to confer with Hernandez before he was presented to the court today.

He said Hernandez was meant to be presented tomorrow (Wednesday), and they were just conferring with him today before he was called to testify.

"To be candid, we were supposed to present the witness tomorrow. We were conferring with him...’di namin maintindihan bakit nag-insist ang depensa na tawagin. Medyo nabigla rin kami sa bilis sa pagtawag ng testigo," he said.

Hernandez was also asked by senator-judges to bring to court the engineer’s reports and other documentary evidence to support the company's claims that the penthouse unit sustained damages. The witness said he would submit the documents if they are still in the company's records.

Tañada: Issue is ethics

Meantime, a spokesman of the House impeachment prosecution panel on Tuesday said he still finds questionable why Corona purchased a penthouse unit at The Bellagio after the price was reduced from P24 million to P14.5 million.

Speaking to radio dzMM, Quezon 4th District Rep. Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada said that while Megaworld reduced the price of the penthouse unit from P24 million to P19 million due to water damage, the additional P5 million price reduction "is the discount."

"The question is - was it right for him to accept that? What we are saying, in the canon of judicial ethics, it is not allowed especially if there is a pending case...You have to remain impartial. He should have said no," he said.

Tañada said the Chief Justice was "extremely lucky" to get a penthouse unit that had its price reduced by P10 million.

"Masyadong maswerte naman talaga si Chief Justice Corona dito," he said.

He added that even lower court judges are penalized for receiving gifts of P50,000 to P100,000.

"Ano ang ipinagkaiba niyan sa P5 million na binigay na discount kay Chief Justice? That is important especially when you check if there were cases decided in favor or against [Megaworld] that are pending before the Supreme Court," he said.

"Let us just stick to the canons of judicial ethics kung saan maliwanag hindi tumatanggap ng kahit anong gratuity ang anumang hukom," he added.

Wrong assessed, fair market values in SALN

Tañada also said Corona has yet to explain why he did not declare the correct assessed value and fair market value of his P14.5 million Bellagio condominium unit in his 2010 SALN.

He said Corona purchased the 303-square-meter Bellagio unit from Megaworld for P14.5 million in 2009.

However, Corona declared in his SALN that the condo unit had an assessed value of P3,496,320.00 and a current fair market value of P6.8 million, or less than half the purchase price.

"What was discussed in the trial is the assessed value. If you read the SALN, the P6.8 million was not in the assessed value column but in the fair market value column," he said.

Tañada said that from 2002 to 2010, Corona did not indicate the acquisition costs of his real estate properties. The 2010 SALN shows Corona owning 5 real estate properties including 4 condos and a house and lot in Quezon City.

"From 2002 to 2010, in all the SALNs, the acquisition costs are not there. The law states that if you file SALNs, you have to state the acquisition costs," he said. -- With reports from RG Cruz, Jing Castañeda, ABS-CBN News; Ira Pedrasa, David Dizon, Judith Balea, ABS-CBNnews.com; radio dzMM