Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Relative warned JBC in 2001: Corona could bring “disrepute” to SC

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My exclusive

By Raïssa Robles

When Renato Corona was nominated for a vacant seat in the Supreme Court back in 2001, an uncle of his wife Cristina personally wrote the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) to oppose his nomination in order “to save the SC from discredit and disrepute.”

Jose Maria Basa III warned that Corona “will not be capable of rendering fair and just decisions as he has not exhibited such character” in connection with his actions regarding Basa-Guidote Enterprises, the corporation jointly owned by the Cristina Corona’s parents and the latter’s relatives  like Basa.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to the defense of Corona, who was then her Malacanang Chief-of-Staff.

Arroyo’s spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao was quoted by the Manila Bulletin as telling reporters in a September 2001 news briefing:

“The President is fully confident on the moral integrity of Corona. He would not be a Cabinet member much less a Cabinet member in Malacanang as Chief of Staff if the President did not have full trust on his integrity,” he said.

Arroyo’s spokesperson brushed aside the complaint of Jose Ma. Basa III, who accused Corona of being morally unqualified to occupy the judiciary position.

“We don’t think a complaint of a single person should overshadow everything Corona has done in his career and on his professionalism,” he said.

The JBC likewise disregarded Basa’s letter and unanimously approved Corona’s nomination in 2002, even placing Corona first on the JBC list of nominees.

Senators Cayetano and PangilinanToday, 11 years later, two members of that same 2001 Judicial Bar Council that vetted Corona are sitting as senator-judges in his impeachment trial. They are Senator Francis Pangilinan and Senator Allan Peter Cayetano (who then represented the House in the JBC.)

I contacted the offices of both senator-judges to get their reaction.

Senator Pangilinan told me:

As a senator-judge I cannot make a comment on this matter.

There was no official reaction from Senator Cayetano’s office.

The JBC then had disregarded Basa’s letter because its members believed what Renato Corona said in his own defense. Corona told Malacañang Palace reporters it was a smear campaign from the camp of the newly-ousted President Joseph Estrada.

Corona also said he had nothing at all to do with his wife’s financial affairs. The Manila Bulletin and Philippine Star both carried his statements.

Philippine Star’s Malacañang Palace reporter Marichu Villanueva quoted Corona as saying he had always distanced himself from any doings of Basa-Guidote Enterprises. Marichu wrote:

“From the very beginning, I have purposely stayed away from the financial and material affairs of my in-laws,” Corona said in a prepared statement.

“This private case (involving Basa and his niece Cristina Corona) is a family dispute over inheritance within their family and I do not even know how this came about. For Mr. Basa to accuse me now of meddling in this inheritance case is unfair, baseless and un-Christian,” Corona said.

Perhaps, the giant TV networks or PTV4 may still have a footage of Corona’s press con on file.

Two years after Corona told Marichu and other reporters that “From the very beginning, I have purposely stayed away from the financial and material affairs of my in-laws,” he obtained an P11 million “cash advance” from Basa-Guidote Enterprises.

Corona declared this in his 2003  Statement of Assets, Liabilitieis and Net Worth (SALN) as a sitting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He was sworn into office by President Arroyo on April 9, 2002.

The story of the conflict between Corona’s wife and her relatives did not end there, however.

To understand this conflict, which has a direct bearing on CJ Corona’s SALN, let’s go back to June 4, 1995 when this ad appeared in Manila Bulletin in which Jose Maria Basa III announced he had filed an estafa complaint against Cristina Corona.

In reaction, Cristina Corona counter-filed with a criminal libel suit against Basa and her other relatives.

Two years later in 1997, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 35 found Jose Maria Basa, Randy Raymunda Basa and Virgilio Macaventa “guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of libel.” Each one was  sentenced from four months to two years in jail and told to pay jointly P700,000 in moral damages to Cristina Corona.

Jose Maria Basa III elevated the case to the Court of Appeals. In August 2005, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Edgardo P. Cruz affirmed the guilty verdict, but changed the jail sentence to “a fine of P6,000 each and one-half of the costs.”

Ordinarily, such cases could still be elevated to the Supreme Court. But the three who were found guilty never did that and from my inquiries, I learned that Jose Maria Basa III is now dead.

I am posting in full below the August 2005 decision of CA Associate Justice Edgardo P. Cruz on the libel suit because it provides certain clues and leads to why the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the registration of Basa-Guidote Enterprises in 2003.

No one gave this document to me. I found it on the Internet, thanks to the World Bank-funded judiciary reform program.

If the hard copy of this decision could be retrieved, the attached annexes marked as evidence may shed more light on Basa-Guidote Enterprises.

Following these clues could tell the story as to what really happened to the corporation. And why a revoked company ended up giving Associate Justice Renato Corona P11 million in “cash advance” in 2003, even though he told reporters two years before that he had always kept his distance from his wife’s financial affairs.

As for the letter of the late Jose Maria Basa III to the JBC, this could be retrieved as well from the JBC files. I am also posting it below, together with the news reports then that mentioned the letter. Notice that the letter I have is dated 1997 and not 2001.

My sources told me earlier that Basa first registered his opposition in 1997 when reports surfaced that Renato Corona was being nominated to the Supreme Court.

Records of the JBC can be checked to see whether Renato Corona was first nominated to the Supreme Court during the dying days of the administration of then President Fidel Ramos. His appointment never pushed through, however, because it would have been considered a “midnight appointment” since it fell within the election campaign period.

Last weekend, I posted the love story of Renato and Cristina Corona as seen through their own eyes.

Today I am posting the way their relatives view the couple. Both perspectives are equally valid.

But to the feuding relatives of Cristina Corona, the verdict of the impeachment court will understandably be seen in a very personal light.

Letter of Jose Maria Basa III to the Judicial Bar Council – page one

Corona-Family---Jose-Basa-1

 

Letter of Jose Maria Basa III to the Judicial Bar Council – page two

Philippine Star report , September 26, 2001

Corona accuses Estrada lawyers of sabotaging SC bid
By Marichu Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated September 26, 2001

Presidential chief of staff Renato Corona accused yesterday the lawyers of jailed former President Joseph Estrada of hatching a campaign to keep him off the highest tribunal in the land.

Corona said the Fortun and Narvasa law firm was behind the “political” smear campaign meant to keep him from being appointed to the Supreme Court after Associate Justice Minerva Reyes retired.

“I will not decline my nomination simply by irresponsible accusations, totally untrue and un-Christian,” Corona said, referring to the charges filed by the uncle of his wife Cristina.

In an apparent attempt to block Corona’s nomination before the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) Cristina’s maternal uncle Jose Ma. Basa III charged that Corona and his wife attempted to take over the firm Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. by preventing them from holding a stockholders’ meeting.

Basa charged that “with the tacit consent” of Corona, Cristina filed two cases with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prevent them from holding a stockholders’ meeting.

Because of his meddling in the civil case, Basa said the presidential chief of staff was “not morally qualified” to become a justice of the Supreme Court.

But in meeting with Palace reporters yesterday, Corona said he had “no involvement whatsoever in that case.”

“From the very beginning, I have purposely stayed away from the financial and material affairs of my in-laws,” Corona said in a prepared statement.

“This private case is a family dispute over inheritance within their family and I do not even know how this came about. For Mr. Basa to accuse me now of meddling in this inheritance case is unfair, baseless and un-Christian,” Corona said.

“What is more important, however, is the hidden political angle of this public accusation on a matter that is strictly private and which is already pending in court,” Corona charged.

Corona said Basa is being represented in the SEC case by the Fortun and Narvasa law firm which, Corona charged, also has an interest in the case because Estrada has questioned the constitutionality of the plunder charge against him.

Corona also noted that Basa’s letter to the JBC was “leaked” to the media last Tuesday or on the very day that Reyes officially retired from the high court.

“It also comes suspiciously a day after the attack on me by opposition spokesman Jesus Crispin Remulla last Sunday,” he said, referring to the spokesman for Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

Meanwhile, President Arroyo reaffirmed her trust and confidence in the “moral integrity” of her chief of staff who was nominated to the vacancy by SC Associate Justice Bernardo Pardo.

Although the President had nothing to do with Corona’s nomination, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Mrs. Arroyo remains confident Corona was not involved in the family dispute.

“The President is fully confident on the moral integrity of Secretary Corona. You wouldn’t be a Cabinet member as chief of staff if the President didn’t have full trust on (your) integrity,” Tiglao said.

Although the President is the sole appointing power to vacancies in the Supreme Court, she can only choose from among the names nominated by the JBC.

Manila Bulletin story

Corona has full Arroyo confidence, Sept 26, 2001 – by Genalyn D. Kabiling

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday expressed full confidence in the credibility and integrity of Presidential Chief of Staff Renato Corona, a nominee for a seat in the Supreme Court.

In a news briefing, presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao defended Corona from criticisms that he is unfit to serve at the High Tribunal.

“The President is fully confident on the moral integrity of Corona. He would not be a Cabinet member much less a Cabinet member in Malacanang as Chief of Staff if the President did not have full trust on his integrity,” he said.

Arroyo’s spokesperson brushed aside the complaint of Jose Ma. Basa III, who accused Corona of being morally unqualified to occupy the judiciary position.

“We don’t think a complaint of a single person should overshadow everything Corona has done in his career and on his professionalism,” he said.

Tiglao said Malacanang has yet to receive the list of nominees to replace retired Justice Minerva Gonzaga Reyes.

In a separate news briefing, Corona defended himself from the “unfair, baseless, and un-Christian” allegations of Basa.

Corona remained undaunted and hit the opposition for the suspiciously timed and politically motivated attacks of Basa.

Corona disclosed that Basa’s lawyer in a certain Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case between him and Corona’s sister is the Fortun and Narvasa Law office, the firm defending former President Estrada.

“It is not pure coincidence that his letter, which was received by the Judicial Bar Council on Sept. 12, 2001, was leaked to the media only yesterday, Sept. 24, the date of retirement of Justice Minerva Reyes,” he said.

“It also comes suspiciously a day after the attack on me by opposition spokesman Jesus Crispin Remulla,” he added.

Disputing the claims of Basa, Corona said he hardly knows him and had met him only a few times.
On the pending case at the SEC, Corona denied any involvement. He said he purposely stayed away from the financial and material affairs of his in-laws. Basa is a brother of his mother-in-law.
“This private case is a family dispute over inheritance within their family and I do not even know how this came about,” he said.

In a letter to the Judicial Bar Council dated Aug. 21, Basa accused Corona of not being “morally qualified” to serve at the Supreme Court.

Basa said the family-owned corporation, Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc., could not conduct its stockholders’ meeting due to Corona’s wife, Cristina Roco, alleged illegal doings.

Among the nominees to the SC post are former Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena, former Comelec chairman Harriet Demetriou, Sandiganbayan Justice Edilberto Sandoval, lawyer Rogelio Vinluan of the ACCRA law office, and lawyer Antonio Carpio.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp.

Philippine Star, April 9, 2002

Corona is top nominee to SC – By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated April 09, 2002

Former presidential chief of staff Renato Corona will most likely be named by President Arroyo the next Supreme Court justice, having obtained a unanimous endorsement from the nine-member Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), it was learned yesterday.

A reliable source said the former Malacañang official did not technically get nine votes, since the JBC considered the votes of two members of Congress — Sen. Francisco Pangilinan and Taguig Rep. Allan Peter Cayetano — as a half vote each.

“It’s eight of eight,” the source said, adding the JBC has finished its short list of 11 nominees for the two SC posts vacated by Justice Bernardo Pardo last Feb. 11 and Justice Arturo Buena last March 25.

Opposition to Corona’s nomination has been filed by Corona’s uncle and a party identified with ousted President Joseph Estrada. Corona and the 10 others were nominees for the place of SC Justice Minerva Gonzaga-Reyes who retired last September.

“Their nominations are valid for six months,” the source pointed out. Corona was personally nominated by Pardo last September, five months before he retired at the age of 70.

In filing his opposition, Jose Ma. Basa, Corona’s uncle-in-law, said his nephew “will not be capable of rendering fair and just decisions as he has not exhibited such character.” Corona’s wife Cristina Roco is the daughter of Basa’s sister Asuncion.

“Being his uncle, I should be happy about his nomination. But having known him personally, I took this opportunity to submit my opposition to his nomination and to save the SC from discredit and disrepute,” he said.

The pro-Estrada Partido ng Masang Pilipino, on the other hand, charged that JBC has been limiting nominees to people from Malacañang or people close to Malacañang, Corona among them.

The SC nominees who obtained the second highest number of votes from the JBC were Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Ma. Alicia Martinez, CA Justices Ruben Reyes and Cancio Garcia and private practitioners Loreto Ata and Ruben Balane.

Getting the third highest number of votes were CA Justice Romeo Callejo Sr.; former Pasig judge, Sandiganbayan justice, presidential legal counsel and Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairwoman Harriet Demetriou; and ACCRA senior partner Rogelio Vinluan.

Demetriou, 55, when she was Pasig City judge convicted to seven life terms Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez and six of his henchmen for the rape-slay of UP-Los Baños coed Eileen Sarmenta and the murder of her fellow student Allan Gomez in January 1993.

She was promoted by Ramos as Sandiganbayan justice in 1995 until Estrada appointed her as his chief presidential legal adviser in 1998. She was later transferred to Comelec and took over Pardo’s unexpired term until February 2001.

Vinluan, a private practitioner, was the private prosecutor who was instrumental in the conviction of Claudio Teehankee Jr., son of the late Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee Sr., for the murder of teenager Maureen Hultman in Makati City in July 1991.

Nominees who got the fourth highest number of votes were Sandiganbayan Justice Edilberto Sandoval, a member of the three-member special division trying the plunder case of Estrada, and UP Law dean Raul Pangalangan.

Under the law, the President has to appoint a justice’s replacement within 90 days from the day he retires, which means Mrs. Arroyo has to appoint Pardo’s replacement not later than May 11 and Buena’s not later than June 25.

Those who voted for Corona, aside from Pangilinan and Cayetano, were JBC chairman and Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, court administrator Presbitero Velasco, and ex-SC Justice Regino Hermosisima, former UST Law dean Amado Dimayuga, lawyer Teresita Cruz-Sison and Judge Alfredo Marigonen.

Two “non-voting” JBC members are Senior Justices Josue Bellosillo and Jose Melo.

The family feud
Corona’s uncle Basa personally believes his nephew “is not morally qualified to occupy a very noble position in the judiciary especially in the Supreme Court where the justices are selected for their intellectual prowess, uprightness, fairness and respect of the law.”

In a one-page letter to the JBC, Basa revealed that Corona and his wife took over the family business — the Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI) — through unlawful means.

“With the intention of gaining control over BGEI, Cristina, with the tacit consent of Corona, filed two cases with the Securities and Exchange Commission purposely to prevent us from holding a stockholders’ meeting,” he said.

Corona managed to get a “questionable” ruling from the corporate watchdog, Basa said, which is why after 10 long years the firm has not held any stockholders’ meeting.

“Cristina is administering the corporation all by herself without rendering any accounting to the stockholders, despite demands,” he said, adding that the couple’s lawyers are Corona’s fraternity brothers at the Villanueva Bernardo Gabionza law office.

“Corona has been actively involved in preventing us from holding a meeting and has in fact attended the hearings on the libel cases that his wife filed against all of us, her uncle, aunts and cousins, including Sister Flor Basa who is turning 80,” said Basa.

“By doing so, he is tolerating and condoning the unfair and unlawful actions of his wife knowing fully well that she has no authority to run the corporation. And so, I strongly oppose his nomination,” Basa told the JBC.

Earlier, Corona had denied the allegations of his wife’s relatives saying he had nothing to do with his wife’s actions.

Among the nominees to the SC, only Corona got a “negative feedback” and from his own uncle yet, while the rest got letters of congratulations from their friends and colleagues in the profession, highly reliable sources said.

 Libel conviction of Jose Maria Basa III, et al

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  1. Crowns of flowers, thorns for Sr. Flor Maria Basa

    (First of two parts)

    Thrust recently into public consciousness because of her family ties to protagonists in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona and because of the pronouncements she had made to uphold a party in the skirmish, Sr. Flor Maria Basa of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) has become a much sought-after figure by the paparazzi.

    Here is a nun who has quietly lived her religious vocation for 65 years suddenly coming out, with guns blazing so to speak, to shoot down what she believes is not the truth. Speaking truth to power, one might call it.

    Sharp memory

    Sister Flor Maria (Flory to her next of kin) shuns public attention, but circumstances—divine providence, she calls it—pushed her into unfamiliar terrain. Ah, but she is far from being discombobulated, disoriented or confused—as some critics might want her portrayed. Her steps may be slow but not the flow of her words. Her memory is as sharp as a middle-lifer, her reasoning sharp, her handwriting elegant, her reflections confounding and her humor endearing.

    She does not wear distance glasses, she does not use a hearing aid, she does not need a cane. A recently discovered ailment does not faze her. She is ready for flight. She pores over newspapers and watches the impeachment trial on TV. When the Inquirer came one Sunday morning for a scheduled interview, she had already read the day’s banner story and spoke about it. She is not your typical nonagenarian.

    “Oh, is that so?” is her calm reaction when told about unflattering text messages about her. And where should these come from? she asks, as if begging the obvious.

    Will Sister Flor Maria be summoned to the witness stand? That remains to be seen. FMM provincial superior, Sr. Josefina Fernando, assures the public that the FMM keeps abreast of developments in the trial.

    To make light of it, if your honors please, Sister Flor Maria might stump the court with bursts of, esto, Spanish or French that would spice up her English and Filipino. Levity aside, this nun had been formed in the old school, she minds her Ps and Qs and is not prone to making flighty utterances. “I grew up in that era when children were seen and not heard,” she chuckles.

    Truth and charity

    “Teach us truth and charity.” These are the last lines of the invocation recited daily these past three years by the FMM who are celebrating their century of presence in the Philippines this year.

    Ninety-year-old Sr. Flor Maria Basa, FMM, takes this prayer to heart and strives to live it. To the prayer, she lately added one more virtue to beg for—justice. That the world may be steeped in it. This she prays in this final season of her missionary life.

    Sister Flor Maria was born in Sampaloc, Manila, on Dec. 6, 1921, to Jose Maria Basa and Rosario Guidote. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to a house on Lepanto Street (not far from the controversial Basa-Guidote property that is the subject of arguments in the impeachment trial).

    Sister Flor Maria’s grandfather, Jose Ma. Basa, her father’s namesake, was a renowned Filipino patriot who, along with national hero Jose Rizal, fought Spanish rule. Many streets have been named after him. He was exiled to the Marianas Islands for many years but later was able to move to British-ruled Hong Kong where Sister Flor Maria’s father was born. Sister Flor Maria can talk lengthily about historical vignettes related to her grandfather’s odyssey and struggle for Philippine independence from colonial rule.

    How Sister Flor Maria’s parents met, wooed and wed was a love story in itself. The nun relishes telling the story. At that time, her father held a good position at Compania Maritima. Sister Flor Maria is the fourth of five children. Her siblings, now all deceased, are Sister Concepcion, FMM, Mario, Asuncion (nicknamed Monina) and Jose Ma. III (Peping). Born on the feast of St. Nicholas, Sister Flor Maria recalls being sometimes teased and called Colasa. “My mother named me after a character in a Spanish novel she had read,” she explains, and because her mother loved flowers and the Virgin Mary.

    Death in Barcelona

    Sister Flor Maria’s father died when she was 9 years old. “He was only 47,” she recalls sadly. “He was brought to Spain for treatment and we were all there with him. He was supposed to go to a Madrid hospital but he died in Barcelona.” Sister Flor Maria remembers the long sea voyage to and from Spain and the pain of loss the family endured.

    Her husband gone, Rosario raised all five children by herself. Sister Flor Maria remembers coming down with typhoid fever and how her widowed mother sought treatments for her. “Mama made me drink freshly squeezed sugar cane juice and that helped me get well,” she says, marveling at it now. There were difficult times but the Basas were not exactly penniless.

    Sister Flor Maria and her sisters attended St. Theresa’s College, run at that time by Belgian nuns, while the boys went to Ateneo de Manila. She also studied at Loreto Parochial School, Holy Ghost College (“For Fine Arts, to please Mama”) and later, briefly at the University of Santo Tomas. Her eldest sister, Concepcion, went to the University of the Philippines where she took music lessons under the famous Francisco Santiago. She later went to Spain to study.

    The call

    Even in childhood, Sister Flor Maria recalls, she already felt drawn to the spiritual life. “I had my first communion in Grade 2,” she narrates. It could have been earlier but her father advised her to wait because he thought she was too young to understand. Looking back, Sister Flor Maria considers that quite revealing and appreciates her father’s wisdom. “That was despite the fact that maybe he still had antifriar sentiments.”

    It was during her first holy communion that the young Flor Maria felt the call. “I can never forget Jesus calling me for Himself.” After that, she says, she would often find herself running to the school chapel to be with her beloved. As a young adult, she had her share of admirers but she knew in her heart that she was meant for something else. “The Blessed Sacrament magnetized me. I wanted intimacy with Jesus.”

    At first, she thought she might be called to a contemplative life and end up with the Pink Sisters (Sisters Servants of Perpetual Adoration). “But there was another call,” she confides. She learned that the FMM had a contemplative side to them and spent time in prayerful adoration. “What appealed to me was this was not going to be just the Lord and me, but I will bring the Lord to the people and the people back to the Lord, in adoration.” She was attracted to the Franciscan simplicity and the life centered on the scriptures and the Blessed Sacrament.

    And so she decided on the FMM. With her eldest sister in the convent abroad and her other sister Asuncion married, she wondered what it would be like to leave her mother. There were twists and turns on her way to the convent. How she finally entered the novitiate (then located on Legarda Street) with only the clothes on her back was a story in itself. The day after her entrance, the entire brood came to see her wearing an old hand-me-down postulant’s garb that got ripped in the joyful frenzy. The year was 1947.

    Bold nuns

    Sister Flor Maria’s eldest sister Concepcion (then called Sr. Divino Amor) had joined the FMM ahead of her and was sent to Rome for formation. With World War II raging in Europe, Sr. Divino Amor and other sisters from countries under the Allied Forces were sent to the United States for safety. She was later assigned to follow up war damages compensation for the destruction wrought by US bombings in the Philippines.

    A first cousin, Sr. Caridad Guidote (aunt of artist-activist Cecile Guidote-Alvarez), had also joined the FMM. (Sister Caring, as she was called, became a known anti-martial law activist and intellectual who, after her studies in Paris, lived in exile in the United States for several years until Philippine democracy was restored. Her dissertation in French was considered subversive and could not be published at that time.)

    When she received her religious habit as a novice, Sister Flor Maria was given the religious name Sr. Blanca Azucena. (Like many missionary nuns, the two Basa sisters would revert to their baptismal names in the late 1960s after Vatican II.) She then continued her formation at the new FMM novitiate in Tagaytay City. The clean air and cool climate did wonders to her weak lungs. The war over in 1945, it was “peace time” once again and the FMM sisters were back in their respective assignments. (Several foreign sisters had been interned by the Japanese in concentration camp during the war.)

    Like duck to water

    Sister Flor Maria made her first vows in 1948 and her final vows in 1953. According to Sr. Maria Asuncion Borromeo, FMM, retreat and vocation directress, FMM sisters making their first vows are crowned with flowers and on pronouncing their final vows, receive a crown of thorns which they take with them wherever they are missioned. Religious life in the 1950s, unlike now, was very strict. “One never questioned,” Sister Flor Maria recalls. And some biblical imperatives—humility and poverty, among them—were practiced to the letter.

    The FMM is among the many Franciscan congregations inspired by the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi who renounced wealth and embraced poverty. Because of his love for nature, Pope John Paul II declared him patron saint of the environment in 1982. The FMM was founded in 1877 in India by a Frenchwoman, Mother Mary of the Passion (now a “Blessed” and, hopefully, on her way to canonization) who envisioned an international institute of contemplative-active missionaries. The FMM consider their “cradle” the first foundation in Ootacamund in India. (This writer was a guest there many years ago.) With almost 7,000 sisters of 80 nationalities serving in 75 countries, in six continents, the FMM is presently one of the biggest women’s congregations in the world.

    Twelve FMM of different nationalities sailed from France and set foot in the Philippines on Dec. 10, 1912. Fast forward to 2012: serving in 16 communities in the Philippines are 161 FMM sisters, mostly Filipinos; 34 Filipino FMM are missioned in 16 countries. The FMM sisters serve in many fronts and frontiers—indigenous communities, hospitals, schools, catechetical and spiritual formation, the urban poor, rural poor, farmers, workers and children of patients with leprosy. Close to a hundred FMM in the Philippines have gone to their eternal reward.

    Sister Flor Maria took to the Franciscan life like duck to water. Leaving the convent never entered her mind. “I always said that where I am sent, that is where Jesus is waiting,” she reflects. “There is a saying that if a garment was made for you, it will fit you.”

    A ‘bouche-trou’

    She had worked in many places in the Philippines. One of her longest stints—10 years—was in Jerusalem where she took care of children of displaced Arab families and managed a spiritual center for pilgrims. “I was the only Filipino in our international community,” the nun says, “and I often had to speak French.” During breaks, she was sent to Rome for courses in spirituality, spiritual direction and discernment.

    “Whenever there was a need somewhere, I would be pulled out and sent over,” Sister Flor Maria says with a smile. She was, as the nuns would say in French, a bouche-trou, panakip-butas or a stop-gap. She was a missionary to the core, who walked in the steps of the bold and daring FMM foundress who braved the wilds of India and whom Sister Flor Maria fondly calls in French, Maman Passion.

    The Franciscan way of life was, for her, the only way.

    Source: By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1:11 am | Saturday, May 5th, 2012

    (To be continued)

    • Basa-Guidote heir speaks truth to power

      (Conclusion)

      Last month US-based Ana Basa flew to the Philippines after learning that the only surviving sibling of her father, her Tita Flory (Sr. Flor Maria) has a life-threatening ailment. The nun is one of the original incorporators of the Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI).

      Like her illustrious forebears who influenced the course of Philippine history, Sr. Flor Maria now finds herself, albeit unwittingly, in the cusp of the unprecedented, in the confluence of events that might have a bearing on how this country could rise or fall flat on its face. Sr. Flor Maria Basa of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) is the granddaughter of Filipino patriot, Jose Maria Basa.

      Thrust recently into public consciousness because of her family ties to the protagonists in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief (CJ) Justice Renato C. Corona and because of the pronouncements she made to uphold her niece Ana Basa in the family problem concerning inheritance that could have a bearing on the ongoing trial, Sr. Flor Maria has become fair game for the paparazzi.

      Here is a nun who had quietly lived her religious vocation for 65 years suddenly coming out, with guns blazing so to speak, to shoot down what she believes is not the truth.

      Speaking truth to power, one might call it.

      Oppressive tactics

      When Ana arrived here, the impeachment trial was well underway. The bank accounts and other assets of the impeached Chief Justice were being laid bare by the prosecution. Witnesses were being examined and cross-examined. It was then that Ana learned, straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak, that the alleged source of Corona’s funds in his Philippine Savings Bank accounts were BGEI funds, that Corona’s wife Cristina was merely holding the money in trust. Ergo, the money did not have to be in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN). One of the charges leveled against Corona had to do with his incomplete SALN.

      Ana grabbed the opportunity to share her version of a long-festering family problem that had to do with BGEI and Cristina’s control of it.

      To Inquirer reporter Cynthia D. Balana, Ana first bared in detail what she claimed were oppressive tactics by the Coronas to leave the rest of the Basa-Guidote heirs out of BGEI.

      Sr. Flor Maria’s name again came up. What did she know? Being the only surviving original BGEI incorporator, Sr. Flor Maria was privy to her niece Ana’s allegations.

      With TV-radio host Ted Failon in tow, Ana went to see her Tita Flory who readily shared what she knew. The nun made the news.

      Backs niece’s story

      Sr. Flor Maria (Flory to her next of kin) became hot news last March after her interview with the Inquirer which was followed by a taped interview with Failon.

      In the interview, she gave credence to the statements of Ana, who said in so many words that the Coronas (spouses Cristina Basa-Corona and the impeached Chief Justice) had taken over the BGEI without so much as a by-your-leave.

      Ana’s father Jose Ma. Basa III, Cristina Corona’s mother Asuncion Basa-Roco, Sr. Concepcion FMM and Mario—all deceased—and Sr. Flor Maria were siblings.

      Crowns of flowers, thorns for Sr. Flor Maria Basa

      90 but not infirm

      The Inquirer spent a whole day with Sr. Flor Maria recently. She was anything but infirm or feeble. Yes, cancer somewhere in her body was recently discovered, but Sr. Flor Maria carries herself better than her younger sisters at the FMM retirement and wellness home. Before the medical diagnosis, she was assigned in various places in the Philippines.

      Sr. Flor Maria, who turned 90 last December, has always made it known with great humor that she has her burial garb ready, that she takes it with her wherever she is assigned. Not the casual skirt and blouse she wears every day, but the full white habit with the turtle neck. When the time comes, her resting place will be at the grassy Tagaytay ridge with the splendorous view of Taal lake and volcano, in that hallowed place where mist turns to dew.

      Heirs puzzled

      With the Basa-Guidote siblings dead (except Sr. Flor Maria), their surviving spouses and children are now supposed to be BGEI shareholders. How Cristina ended up holding the reins and how funds ended up in her husband’s bank accounts was something Ana and other Basa-Guidote heirs could not understand.

      Questions beg for answers. Are the funds in the PSB accounts really BGEI funds as Corona’s counsels argue they are? If so, why were the other Basa-Guidote heirs in the dark about these funds? But if they are not BGEI funds, where did they come from? The high-caliber defense bristled with energy to defend the accused by saying Corona merely borrowed from those funds. And where is the board resolution for the loan?

      During her interview with the Inquirer, the nun describes her ailment as a blessing in disguise and Ana’s visit as “perfect timing.” She says that were it not for her health condition, Ana might not have come to visit. Indeed, upon arrival, Ana serendipitously found a perfect storm, namely, the impeachment trial that put the Coronas on the defensive. This was a time of reckoning.

      To Ana’s revelations, Sr. Flor Maria adds that she had more than sensed some maneuverings on the part of Cristina. She recalls, “In 1999 people were telling me, ginigiba na ang Bustillos.” (The property on Bustillos St. is being demolished.) That property was sold to the City of Manila for P34.7 million in 2001, former Manila Mayor Joselito Atienza told the impeachment court. Cristina Roco-Corona received the payment and put it in her bank account.

      (Sr. Flor Maria requested that several paragraphs in this article that have to do with an alleged attempt to seize control of BGEI that she had witnessed be deleted to prevent family members from feeling hurt. -CPD)

      ‘Notice to the public’ ad

      Things came to a head in 1995 when Jose Ma. III placed in two national newspapers paid announcements with Cristina’s photo and name in bold letters. The “notice to the public” said, “Notice is hereby given to the public that on 15 July 1995, BASA-GUIDOTE ENTERPRISES INC. THROUGH ITS STATUS QUO Board of Directions (based on the 1986 General Information Sheet), has officially WITHDRAWN whatever authority that was given to CRISTINA ROCO-CORONA by her father, Vicente Roco (the president of the corporation, who passed away on 07 March 1993). Please be warned that Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. shall not recognize any transaction made by Ms Corona for and in its behalf.

      “The issuance of this notice does not mean, however, that the corporation has recognized the validity of Ms Corona’s past representation that she was authorized to act in behalf of Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. Ms Corona’s picture appears above for the public’s guidance. By: Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. Felix Carlos Vicentillo, Assistant Secretary.”

      Estafa case, libel suit

      Jose Ma. III also filed an estafa case against Cristina who was collecting the BGEI rentals.

      Incensed, Cristina filed a libel suit against Jose Ma. III, Sr. Flor Maria, Cecilia Basa (wife of the late Mario Basa) and Betsy Basa-Tenchavez (a daughter of Mario Basa). (Sr. Concepcion died in 1995.) The three women coaccused hired the services of Yorac Arroyo Chua Caedo Law Office. (Jose Ma. III who was the principal accused in this case had his own lawyers.)

      Yorac’s glare

      Sr. Flor Maria remembers defense lawyer William Chua remarking that they would have rough sailing because Cristina’s husband, Renato Corona, was holding a high position in Malacañang. The feisty Haydee Yorac flashed her famous glare and said, “What is our law office for?” And so the lawyers fought it out in court and got the three women acquitted in 2004. “Sometimes Corona would be there,” Sr. Flor Maria remembers. “William (Chua) was already ill at that time but he showed up when the decision was to be handed down. When I turned around, there he was, standing behind me, with a mask on his face.” Chua had made sure the courtroom would be packed with nuns. He died not long after.

      Libel case pending

      As Ana had said in her two-part interview with Inquirer reporter Balana, the libel case against her father is still hovering over their heads. It is possible, a lawyer who knows something about that libel case, that if Jose Basa III was found guilty of libel, Cristina might have been awarded damages and she could have helped herself to her uncle’s shares.

      Nun still an incorporator

      Is Sr. Flor Maria still a co-owner of BGEI and therefore entitled to her share of assets? “When Peping (Jose Ma. III) was still alive, he bought my shares, Sr. Concepcion’s and the others’,” the nun recounts. Sr. Flor Maria says that Peping did this because their mother Rosario had wished that her inheritance from her deceased parents should remain with her children and would not be sold away outside the family.

      “This property supported us after Papa died at the age of 47. So Peping offered to buy it at the appraised price. Each of us received P2 million. What I know is that he did not give Cristina because she had been collecting BGEI income.”

      This treasured family property is what Cristina sold to the City of Manila when Atienza was the mayor of Manila.

      An Inquirer source, a lawyer, said that Jose Ma. III’s “buying out” other BGEI shareholders must have been a private arrangement between siblings because the last time she looked at Securities and Exchange Commission records was not long ago, Sr. Flor Maria was still an incorporator.

      ‘I have forgiven’

      As to members of religious orders who have vows, they do not lose their legal claim to their shares in their families’ fortunes. An FMM sister explains: “Members of contemplative religious orders usually pronounce solemn vows and make a total renunciation. We, the FMM, make simple vows. Our policy on the sisters’ property is this: Before we make our final vows we write a will indicating the beneficiary of whatever inheritance we are entitled to. The beneficiary could either be the congregation or any member of our family—or both. Some sisters give a part to the congregation and a part to a member of her family.”

      Suffice it to say that both Sr. Flor Maria and the late Sr. Concepcion had decided on their beneficiaries.

      And so it was that after decades of missionary work, the spunky 90-year-old nun was living a quiet prayerful life and translating French documents into English when there was a knock on her door. Sr. Flor Maria had to say her piece. She was not raring for a fight. “I have forgiven,” she declares. She merely supported what Ana had said, but what she said was more than enough. Will she be subpoenaed to testify?

      Victim-soul for justice

      “I am doing this (interview) as a victim-soul for justice,” she declares, “as a victim for souls and the church.” In spiritual parlance, making oneself a victim-soul is a form of sacrificial offering so that good may prevail.

      Sr. Flor Maria at 90 is only two years older than the impeachment court’s presiding senator-judge, the now highly rated (in surveys) Juan Ponce Enrile. “Please mention that I have a good review of his performance,” she says wistfully. With a mind as sharp as a razor, Sr. Flor Maria might yet have the last word.

      “When we were children,” she muses, “Mama used to tell us, ‘No hay mal que por bien no venga.’” (This is also a line from a 2002 Gloria Estefan pop song.) The literal English translation of this double negative—“There’s nothing bad from which a good doesn’t come”—is as unwieldy and confounding as the issues plaguing this nation that is groaning for redemption. Turned on its head, the saying simply means “Good things can come out of bad situations.”

      It is not quite sunset. In the afternoon haze, Sr. Flor Maria walks unassisted past the garden and to the convent chapel after the interview, but not before jotting some inspiring lines in this journalist’s notebook. In her elegant handwriting, she ends, “…for the greater glory of the Triune God. Sr. Flor Maria Basa fmm, March 25, 2012.”

      Source: By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1:51 am | Sunday, May 6th, 2012

      • OO @duquemarino,

        I posted it already, my message is still ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.‘

        These are useful for future readers, incoming news researchers who would follow up on these stories. They have added resource reading materials/links to better grasp, if not closer to the crux of the story.

        The blogsite’s mother of article(s) are supported by succeeding articles by other writers/authors. Raïssa’s article (Relative warned JBC in 2001: Corona could bring “disrepute” to SC) still holds the lead in this blogsite.

  2. Hi Raisa,
    I am a Filipino-Canadian. Been here in Canada since 1976. Left the Philippines not because of economic reasons- my wife and I were not doing so badly there.

    I am a registered Architect and my wife is a Registered Nurse. I think you may know why we left by looking at the year (1976).

    Yes, just can’t stomach Martial Law and the widespread corruption happening in the Philippines.

    Still a Filipino at heart, we vowed to come back as soon as conditions improved in the Philippines. A glimmer of hope when EDSA 1 happened, I was actually crying thinking that it will be the start of real change but after all these years, I am still waiting.

    I think Cory tried her best but the problem was just too great.

    Estrada was elected president and I cried again, not from jubilation this time- what are the Filipinos thinking? Arroyo became President, another hope but alas she became worst than her predecessors.

    The Marcoses are back into power- I am beginning to believe that crime does pay!

    Pnoy seems to be the last hope for I don’t see any alternative. Tell me Ms Robles do we still have hope?

    • No, PNoy is not the last hope.

      The hope lies with us.

      To make democracy work, we have to be willing to work hard for it.

      OUr country is still a young country.

      If you look at Europe – they have achieved peace and near unity after over over 500 years of bloody strife. We have been spared that.

      HOwever, we as a people have collectively imbibed defense and coping mechanisms to endure nearly four centuries of colonialism.

      We have to learn to take destiny in our own hands. Live with the consequences of our actions. and keep trying.

      It’s not going to be easy. But if we share the burden together we can do it.

      Part of the reason why I’m blogging is that I want to share what I’ve learned covering our politics up close.

  3. Why or for what reason or reasons that the JBC panel did not dig deeper as to the letter of the late Mr. Jose Basa about Mr. Renato C. Corona not having the fit character to be appointed to the Court? JBC should have made Mr. Basa elaborate on his letter. And this should be a lesson for the JBC to conduct more examinations like the US Senate when it comes to appointments to the Judiciary. Nag paka caballero ang JBC lang dito?

    BE AWAKE JBC BODY POR DIYOS TODOS LOS SANTOS!

  4. here we can see that constitutional flaw which is the Judicial and Bar Council.
    unlike the Commission on Appointments, it lacks the investigative and fact finding powers of the Legislature. the JBC did not give weight to the BASA opposition and so we the people are left to take the cudgels of their neglect.

    dapat i-abolish na yang JBC at ibalik ang screening sa CA. by analogy, Congress has the formidable power of impeachment in its arsenal. its only proper that the initial screening be within their competence. this is in harmony with the doctrine on Appointing-Firing power. like the say, if it’s your mess then you better clean it up. Executive power is merely ministerial as the President exercises discretion on the limited ‘screened’ short listing.

    here its a JBC mess and Congress gets to wipe its ass!

    it’s gonna take a constitutional amendment though…

  5. Good Morning..its a good thing to know na may mga taong kagaya nyo na magbubukas pa ng mata ng maraming tao..parang isa lang pwede ko maging conclusion..hindi natutulog ang Diyos.kapag talaga kinuha mo ang hindi sayo…in one way or another..mababawi rin o kung hindi man ay napakasakit ng kapalit.

  6. Thanks Raissa!! Now we know the characters of the Corona’s. Your article was corraborated by the coming of Ms Anna Basa in the inquirer article today March 6, 2012.
    Your are always the 1st to break the news Raissa.