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Corona’s daughter bought California and The Fort properties 22 days of each other

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A Plaza Miranda Exclusive

By Raïssa Robles

Soon after Chief Justice Renato Corona categorically denied that he and his family owned any property in the United States, a California lawyer sent me documentary evidence showing the purchase of a house in Roseville, California by the chief magistrate’s youngest daughter, Charina.

This purchase was made 22 days before she allegedly bought a condo in McKinley Hills at the Fort.

Later I will explain why the two shoulder-to-shoulder properties transactions could have an important bearing on the ongoing impeachment trial of CJ Corona.

Yesterday, CJ Corona reacted to my article entitled – “Does Renato C. Corona have a clone living in the US?” – by issuing a blanket denial to reporters covering the justice beat.

I was particularly intrigued by the following sentence which came out in ABS-CBN News.com, which quoted CJ Corona as saying “we have no property in the US.”

And so I phoned his lawyer Tranquil Salvador to clarify what the word “We” meant. I asked Atty Salvador who was the CJ referring to when he said “we” don’t own any property. Was he referring to himself and his wife only or does “we” include his three children?

Instead of answering, Atty Salvador said he would send me CJ Corona’s original text message. He did and it said:

“Not true 101%. We have NO prop in the US. The addresses cited by Raissa Robles were the apts rented by my daughters at various times over the past 14 yrs and were therefore temp mailing addresses at those various times. The house in Bayshore, Tampa is owned by a family friend where we stay in the few times we’ve been to Tampa Fl. It’s also a mailing address.”

I thanked Atty Salvador who texted back saying, “Ok I hope it helps.”

Little did I know when I was talking to him that he had earlier said some things about me to other reporters. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted him in today’s issue as saying:

“The release of this story is highly suspicious because there will be no hearings and opportunities for us to confront them. The danger of releasing stories of similar nature is that these might raise suspicions, and conclusions may be drawn [against the Chief Justice].”

I would like to assure him I have no ulterior motive except the truth. And what journalist in her right mind would turn down such a scoop?

It is in this spirit that I continue to delve into the truth behind CJ Corona’s wealth. And as journalist I try to get all sides. It was for this reason that I also tried to reach one other defense lawyer, Atty Ramon Esguerra, yesterday but he did not answer. Shortly thereafter, I received a text message from his wife saying “My husband left a while back for a week-long solo quiet retreat. Thank you. Be blessed of God.”

Much earlier, I had sent a text message to Atty. Esguerra asking – Does the CJ have any assets abroad?

I received no reply.

I have also tried four times through different people to obtain an interview with CJ Corona himself. All my requests have been met by silence.

Why drag in CJ’s daughter?

It was Corona’s lawyers who introduced his youngest 33-year-old daughter Charina into the case. Charina was named as the real buyer of the McKinley Hills condo in the ritziest part of town. They said that on October 2, 2008, a Maria Charina Corona bought a unit for P6.19 million. Although the receipts for payment were made out to CJ Corona, his lawyers insisted that the chief magistrate had merely acted “in trust” for his daughter.

The lawyers also said Charina could well afford to buy the condo since she had been living abroad “for less than 10 years” now.

This morning during an interview on ANC, lawyer Karen Gimeno even upgraded Charina’s occupation to that of medical doctor. The truth is, CJ Corona’s two daughters, Carla and Charina, are both physical therapists.

Can a physical therapist raising two children and drawing salary from a hospital afford a pricey condo ON TOP OF a three-bedroom house in Roseville, California almost at the same time?

Charina’s Roseville property

On September 10, 2008 or 22 days before Charina bought a McKinley Hill unit – according to CJ Corona’s lawyers – Charina also bought a 1,337 square foot (or 122 square meter) property in Roseville. See below:

She also took out a loan of US$245,000 in order to pay the tag price of US$269,500 (equivalent to P11.5 million at 43 pesos per US$1.00). See the first page of the loan document or Deed of Trust below:

It therefore becomes a legitimate question to raise in the impeachment trial whether she could afford to have paid for both almost at the same time. And why she was buying a condo unit in The Fort when she had just invested in a home in California, payable for the next 26 years and paid a donwpayemnt of US$24,356 (P1 million) on it.

Since Charina was married to Carlos Salgado, you would assume that Roseville is their conjugal home. But it is intriguing to note that on the day Charina bought Roseville, her husband Carlos signed an “Interspousal Grant Deed” waiving all his rights to the property.

The deed turned Roseville into Charina’s “sole and separate property.”

See below:

Implications of these two properties

I’m not saying that CJ Corona gave a helping hand in the purchase of these two properties.

All I’m saying is that given these two transactions, it has become very relevant, material and pertinent to look at the money flow in CJ Corona’s dollar accounts.

First, if dollars were remitted to Manila from Charina’s California bank account before the McKinly Hill condo was bought, then that would show the money used indeed came from Charina. But if no money came in, whose money was used to buy the condo?

Second, if dollars were remitted from CJ Corona’s bank accounts in Manila to Charina’s bank account in the US before the Roseville property was bought, then that could prove to be highly suspicious.

Tomorrow, I will give an update on the cyber-sleuthing that Our Plaza Miranda did on the Bayshore and Mountain View properties that are somehow being linked to CJ Corona. My sincere thanks to Our Plaza Miranda – the growing community of Filipinos here and abroad who frequent my site to discuss, debate and share information on issues such as the impeachment trial.

In barely 24 hours, at least 10 Filipinos who had never seen nor met each other except in our Cyber Plaza Miranda had tracked down the Roseville property of Charina. They go by the handle @Baltazar, @Teri, @Sam, @Yvonne, @Tomas “Buddy” Gomez, @Johnny Lin, @Alfred, @Maxima, @Rho, @Ed and @Pogo. And thank you of course @Steve, who e-mailed me the property documents.

Comments

  1. I think Charina or anyone who holds a good job in the US can normally afford to buy some sort of property by taking out a mortgage. It’s worth looking into only if this property has been fully paid.

    Let us concentrate on Corona instead, especially on his (lack of) Integrity & Probity. From publicly lying about his academic honors… to getting reimbursements from the Supreme Court for his personal expenses… to selling a land that was not his… to accepting favors from a litigant (PAL), etc., Corona has shown that he has utterly no regard for the common good. He has truly brought disrepute to the Supreme Court.

    http://www.rappler.com/nation/special-coverage/corona-trial/1268-prosecution-eyes-cj%E2%80%99s-reimbursements

    • @adriana
      The issue is not about Charina affording to pay mortgage loans with a suitable income.

      The question is how was she able to amass lots of cash to buy two properties in the same month, unless her father was either using for hiding his corrupted/ launderied money or using her as dummy owner of his properties.

      • I concur!! There is already the pattern of the act and there is a saying that goes… “The collective consequences of a father’s sin . . . does not eliminate the personal responsibility of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.” (Jochem Douma)

  2. Kung talagang 22o si cj simple lang gawin nya maging transparent sya ipatigil nya ang impeachment at magsalita siya sa sambayanan ipakita nya kung saang galing mga properties nila at peso/dollars acct. nya tapos.Paalala lang po sa mga senador judges ‘wag puro pasikat lang tayo sa tv at medya manindigan sana kayo sa katotohanan ‘di para kunsentihin ang katiwalian alalahanin ninyo nextyear eleksyon na naman ibinoto kayo ng sambayanan upang maglingkod ng tapat ayon sa sinumpaang tungkulin para sa bansa; kaya mga kababayan saang man sulok ng mundo alam n’yo na kung sino2x ang mga karapat-dapat maglingkod muli sa ating inang bayan.

  3. As guided earlier, rather than copy and paste the whole blog item, attached is the url for same. I recommend this a a good read and new assessment of the situation regarding the Corona SALN. http://attylaserna.blogspot.com/2012/03/latest-sc-decision-on-saln-and.html. You may need to copy and paste the url to gain access but definitely worth the effort.
    As an aside; it is very refreshing to visit Raissa’s blog these days……at least 10 presses of the refresh button to access the site and another ten presses to access the latest article. However, as always, well worth the effort.

  4. Naalala nyo po nung mag media blitz si Corona….
    sabi nya in due time he will reveal his dollar account
    and that due time is next which will be the defense
    presentation pero anong nangyari nde nya naman
    inilabas.
    For me it’s due time for him…TO RESIGN!!!

  5. heto nanaman ang pag double standards ng defense

    ABS-CBN

    CJ defense: Basas irrelevant to impeachment case
    MANILA, Philippines – Defense lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona believe the testimonies of relatives of Mrs. Corona are irrelevant to the Chief Justice’s impeachment trial.

    Corona’s lawyers said there is no reason why Cristina’s cousin, Anna, and aunt, Sister Flory Basa, should be presented as rebuttal witnesses since the personal relationships of the Basas are not covered by the impeachment case.

    The Basas are suing Mrs. Corona over the ownership of Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc., the family corporation that loaned money to the Chief Justice for a property acquisition. The Basas have said they had no knowledge of the loan.

    Corona’s lawyers said that while the Basas are connected to BGEI, their testimonies are irrelevant since the defense has already presented former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to testify on the Manila government’s purchase of BGEI’s property in Sampaloc. — Report from Jing Castañeda, ABS-CBN News
    ———————————————————————————————————————————————

    If Sister Flory would definitely testify that BGEI did not authorized mrs corona to sell the property. the corona presented a 17yrs old document and claim it was ok, how they question COA’s decision for an 11yrs event

    .

    • That wins for the most idiotic news item for the day. Again, the defense team hasn’t heard of that saying I’ve learned when I was just a child, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. They must have gotten the conflicting and opposite saying: What’s good for the goose is so, so bad for the frigging gander.

    • All the Basas can be a witness in the rebuttal. It was the defense who opened the door for it. The defense said it’s the money in trust for BGEI. That’s why I am laughing when they introduced those witnesses. Magaling talaga ang defense attorneys of TJ!

    • I think mahihirapan ang defense parang lahat nang witnesses nila left without clearing the matters that they’re there for, instead they created more questions. Can anybody name someone that helped Coronas case?

    • http://opinion.inquirer.net/25805/case-against-corona-collapses…this is a
      fictional story from tiglao!!! I wondered why he didn’t allow his
      reader to comment…tsk, tsk, tsk. Palibhasa walang katotohanan ang mga
      sinusulat nya. Yung pera ng BGEI wala sa SALN kc in trust kay Cristina.
      I’m not a lawyer but I’m an employee before of a small company. If it’s BGEI
      money why it was deposited in Cristina’s personal acct. Then the money
      was later on in Psbank acct of corona. A corporation normally have their own
      company acct which the money shld be deposited.

  6. Source: Philstar Article tittle : “US house may belong to CJ”

    sa kalagitnaan ng istorya may nakasaad na: “Osmena pointed out that the issue of Charina’s properties could be dragged into the impeachment court since the defense claims that the McKinley property belonged to the daughter.”

    • in the Philippines we have ITR every year….i’m just wondering if our kababayans in the US have the same ITR or its equivalent every year to pay their taxes….if ms. charina r. corona has ITR in the US, can somebody please get & share a copy of ms. charina’s ITR for the year 2007 & 2008?

  7. I forgot to mention, with the current real estate market within Rosedale, value of that property maybe significantly less than what they paid for, AKA underwater. Comparable price maybe in the range lower than 200K so technically, she lost her equity. But if she is renting it, no big deal. Cheers!

  8. A bulb illuminates.

    This is my theory or call it hunch if you like.

    Corona by his pattern of media blitz last time started attacking senator-judges who in one way or the other talked to him before inappropriately. Take the case of Senator Guingona who Corona said approached him to ask him to resign. He was talking of another judge who did the same. He did not name him/her for now. I remember Senator Guingona mentioned before his desire to talk and actively participate but he could not because of a certain reason. Could this be it?

    I can see that he would like to use the leverage of impropriety to either neutralize a judge or lead them to vote for his acquittal. Simply, he is sort of blackmailing the senator-judges or rendering them ineffective . Somebody mentioned in this blog about Corona not inhibiting in trying the case of the Marcoses pending in the Supreme Court. It is a silent threat to Marcos to vote for his acquittal or else ??? By not taking leave of absence, he still wields that power of intimidating the judges, witnesses, and supporters. Yes, who knows even Supreme Court judges, officials, staff, and employees. The issue of whether he should take leave of absence and inhibit from trying active cases should not be an issue anymore. He should take a leave. Now. Not in due time.

    In one way or the other, some of these judges had talked to Corona before and asked favor from him. Corona knew the law. He knew that these people could have violated some laws. Although he could be in hot water too for talking to them (Vizconde case). But he could bluff. He could insinuate or do veiled threat that he could report them; sue them or things of that sort.

    There could be some senator-judges who had utang na loob to Corona for helping them in some cases.

    So to summarize, the game plan for Corona is:
    1. Ensure silence from judges who committed impropriety in their dealings with him.
    2. Cultivate utang na loob to those he had helped before.
    3. Consolidate hold to those pro-corona die hards in the senate.

    This is his strategy to get enough votes for his acquittal (he needs only 9 votes). It seems he is confident he could get enough votes for him otherwise who in his right mind would sacrifice his family.

    While the defense lawyers used the legal technicalities in IC to defend him, Corona or his rep concentrates on the judges. Of course, silently.

    This is my theory. Let us leave it like that – a theory.

    • @ Andy
      Let me add a sidelight to Andy’s theory. There is no longer any doubt that the wealth of Corona—in the tens of millions—-is way out of proportion to his legal, declared and sworn to income. What then is the possibility that in the maneuver to get most of his associate justices to vote his way in questionable decisions, Corona “shared” the largesse with his consenting cohorts? Trickle down corruption? Walang makapagsasabi na hindi nag-uusap sa labas ng Supreme Court yong mga associates na ngayon ay pinaghihinalaang “tumatanggap” din. Maari kaya na nag-daan muna ang mga ito so kamay ng nasasakdal na si Corona?

  9. Not for nothing: I was reading the post and out of curiosity, why this page was not included in the posted documents to give us a clear view of what really is the story. The 22 days gap may be irrelevant for real estate transactions in the states takes some time to close. From the sales contract signing all the way to the pain of waiting the completion of loan underwriting is a a pain in the highnee. Affordability of owning two properties, could be achieved with proper and well planned management. Were these two properties acquired as an investment or income properties, was it leveraged from somewhere else, like using other assets as collateral in exchange for some credit? The source of the 24,000 down payment made by the buyers were verified and tested by the lender during the underwriting process. Ang tanong, meron bang gift na galing sa family or they produced on their own the whole amount. Based on the below available public records obtained from Placer County California, which is self explanatory, Charina Corona may have been granted the mortgage partly because of the projected rental income stated in the Loan Application which the underwriter factored in its approval. If that was the case, then the property was not acquired as a primary residence, it was an investment property. Same thing with the Phil property, who lives there? was it also rented? If properties are earning income, obviously there’s capability to service the loan. BY the way there were four documents recorded the same day on September 10, 2008, Deed of Trust, Deed, Deed (Salgado – this is the transfer of his conjugal interest solely to the Wife) , and this Assignment of Rent.

    With regards to the filing of lien, the question is who is currently holding the lien. Unlike in the Philippines, mortgage in States are traded like an ordinary paper as part of Collateralized Mortgage Obligation, it may have been originally granted by Wells Fargo but there is no assurance that they still have it in their books, reason why there is no lien recording yet or Mr. Lin did not check the original UCC Filing, kasi may bayad ang search sa California.

    Document Number: 2008-0072791
    Book / Page:
    Sequence #: 02
    Document Type: ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS
    Number of Pages: 12

    Names
    Grantor:

    CORONA MARIA CHARINA

    Grantee:

    JOHN LAING MTG

    APN Numbers
    APN1:

    • If posting additional records can cause bandwidth trouble for this site, just post it as a link to some other host. A clearer picture can be painted if all facts are presented.

    • Correction: Not Wells Fargo, should be John Laing, kulang na sa kapeng barako. My mistake.

    • @Jose R. Lopez – Any reason for the INTERSPOUSAL TRANSFER GRANT DEED? Objectively and honestly asking.

      • If you say honestly and objectively? I cant no one until we know all the facts, its between the two of them or whoever the parties may be. We dont speculate.

    • @Jose R. Lopez

      I agree w/ what you commented because I just talked to my sis in CA who she had a loan w/ a bank in US. She explained to me like what you mentioned above. I still will dig deeper in this cause there is a difference over there. But I am very sure that if there is no lien in the document then it had been paid fully from where it started.

    • If Charina’s loan is FHA, FHA is strictly primary residence, won’t approve an investment loan or rental property. If you want to find out about the lien, call the title company and talk to any title officer by referencing APN number of address of the subject property. You don’t have to do a UCC search.

        • The loan is an FHA Loan for sure. FHA Case No. 043-7618353 734 is noted in the Deed of Trust. If this is a single family residence, it was approve as a primary residence and if they will rent the property there is a provision in the note that the lender can demand a buyback, meaning the borrower violated the term of the loan and must pay the balance of the loan owing to the lender. If it’s four unit residential unit, one can be occupied by the borrower and the three can be rented. The property has been appraised and the loan underwritten base upon the collateral. FHA requires the borrower to sign a declaration that the property is the primary residence of the borrower.

  11. I noticed ang mga tumitira kay Raissa mga journalist din. di ba dapat tumutulong sila para lumabas ang katotohanan? dapat magtulungan para maisiwalat ang mga nakaw na yaman ng mga taong dapat naninilbihan ng tapat. hirap talaga maraming asong ulol na mga bayaran na pumipigil ilabas ang katotohanan.

    Kahit maglupasay pa ang mga pro-corona eh ang verdict ng taong bahay GUILTY SI THIEF JUSTICE RENATO CORONADO CORONA! lumuha man ng dugo ang kanyang mga tagasuporta di na yan mapapalitan. If ever ma acquit man si Corona sa Senado wala naman ng rumerespeto sa kanya maliban na lang sa mga kanyang mga asong ulol. We will utilize this site to educate the voting population para mapalitan ang mga mapagsamantala at ang mga makakapal ang mukha sa senado!

    • Hindi.
      Ang mga tunay na journalist hindi ako tinitira.

      Yung pang-bangketa lang ang tumitira sa kin.,

        • It is easy to be misunderstood. NASAAN does not mean WALA. It means HINIDI SILA MAKITA.
          KITANG KITA LANG SILA KUNG PATAY NA. Remember the Magindanao massacre?

        • @Alizarin Viridia

          I beg to disagree with your comment. Don’t you ever use the journalist in the Maguindanao massacre.

      • Una sa listahan si ninez na ngayon ay nag house to house selling na ng tribune dahil nilalangaw lang yan sa bangketa.

      • hahahahahah raissa, pilya ka din pala sumagot!!! ikaw ay makabagong maria clara yung bang si maria clarang humahabol sa jeep! gusto ko ang pagsagot mo sa mga tumitira sa iyo. hahahhahahaha good girl!!

      • So _ may nakakainez palang pang_bangketa lang
        ang journalistic value. ha ha ha – Sapul :) :) Joke lang ito.
        Tamaan huwag sanang magagalit kay Raissa.

        @ Raissa, Pinoy’s all over the world are behind you.Ingit lang sila sa pinasimulaan mong OPM nation.Let’s keep disseminating this website to the youth sa Pinas para sa next senatorial election. They will be the next leader’s of the land. Manalo o matalo man si TJ sa IC, your blog have started to change the Phillipine political landscape for the better. Ingat lang po ni sir Alan.

  13. Can a physical therapist raising two children and drawing salary from a hospital afford a pricey condo ON TOP OF a three-bedroom house in Roseville, California almost at the same time?

    Yes, most definitely. I am also a licensed physical therapist here in California, U.S.A.

    No, we’re not medical doctors or physicians.

    But, yes, entry-level physical therapy education in the United States are on doctorate level with a title “DPT” or doctors of physical therapy.

    Thank you!

    • Can you raise the cash outlay for those two properties within TWO years of getting your license to practice?

    • @edwin

      Just for clarification, please don’t generalize your answer. If you are what you say you are, please give specific numbers we can chew on and think over so we can have a lively discussion on the matter.

      General statements like this don’t have value whatsoever. Give us hard facts, and not unverified data as this doesn’t help. Enumerate what you are earning as a DPT (Doctor of PT) so we can be illuminated by your experience in the USA, the the expenses that go with it and we then can conclude from the data you give if what you really say is true.

      I’d like to think this forum (Raissa’s blog) is similar to what the Greeks have in their Golden Age when they go to the city square and debate on whatever is the hot topic of the day. Now, we don’t go to city squares, but ours is much more wide reaching, Filipinos all over the world is reading this blog, so a good discussion necessitates that you produce hard data and not generalize as you said above.

      Thanks.

      • nang dumating ba si charinasa sa US, nakapag trabaho na ba agad sya? ganon na ba agad sweldo nya? wala ba ung tinatawag na adjustment period? lisenyado na ba agad siya? pag kuya ba nya ng lisesya sa kanyang profesion eh, overnight lang? may miz leading sa mga kwento nila ehh, kelan nga siya na naging certify PT? anong yr ba talaga siya nag start naging PT don? di ba po, me lokohan din sa kwentong charina ehh, para din mga magulang nya, FAKE! pamilyang peke huwad manloloko manghaharbat etc. :))

    • show us some proof. para maniwala kami. as of now self serving ang sinabi mo. what’s your name? baka kasi si karen jimeno ka lang na nagpapanaggap. hehe

    • so would you care to prove mr. lin’s calculations below as inaccurate? for fairness’ sake, please?

    • In the philippines PT is 4 yr course while in US it is a 6 yr course. When a PT gets his license, LPT is affixed after the name, not DPT.

      Just be honest:
      Working as LPT obtaining license in 2006 could you amass from your income $171,000 in cash in a span of no more than 33. Months

      Can afford paying in cash and by installment are 2 different fruits, if you did not understand what you have been reading in this blog.

      I earned 5 x your salary level but was not able to save more than $50,000 in 2 years in the US.

      Corona syndrome of embellishment is spreading.

    • Where are you working @edwin? I want to work there too. I am a physical therapist working in central CA but cannot afford paying cash to buy a condo in the phils. If you can earn $171k i want to work there too…I am a PT working in the prison earning about $60/hr and i think thats the max you can earn. and i can bet Charina earn less than $50 and probably less if shes hospital based. For clarification its not LPT, its RPT.

    • doesn’t not matter if your DPT or BSPT. i can earn same salary as DPT. at the moment being a DPT doesn’t make sense. its all about experience. and also if you are working in a hospital, you’ll be taking a big cut maybe max of $46 if your a department manager maybe higher in kaiser hospital. around Roseville area, PTs are not receiving high salary compared to bay area or san jose due to close proximity of sacramento area and there is a lot of PTs around those areas.. I have an offer about $65 working in a homehealth setting in san jose but you have to understand house prices and standard of living are pretty high around that area. Most Sacramento PT are going to central valley to work.
      so regarding the question if you can afford? Yes only if you have a father thats a Chief Justice, other than that maybe just a house in the USA.

  14. Article VIII, Sec.7 (3) of the Constitution states: “A Member of the Judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.”

    Integrity – 1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty;
    2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished… (dictionary.com). In short, doing the right thing even when no one is looking.

    Probity – uprightness (dictionary.com).

    The requirements under the Constituion are continuing requirements. And note, these are the requirements for any member of the judiciary, so it’s not unreasonable to expect more from the CHIEF Justice.

    Even assuming for the moment that we do not take exception to CJ Corona’s competence and independence (ha!), his integrity and probity is now very much suspect. SALN is de rigueur in Phil. government where even the lowly janitor can tell that its purpose is to prevent and/or check on graft and corruption. If the highest justice – adjudicator of people’s fate – does not fully respect and or comprehend its import, such that he is not truthful and/or straightforward with what he owns and owes – how can we expect rule of law in our country? How can a rogue in judiciary decide the fate of a rogue in mainstreet? That is unsupportable by the law of reason.

    An open plea to CJ Corona – please have a bit of love for our country. You are doing a great disservice to our country and to the judiciary, in particular, by clinging to your post when your integrity and probity is put in serious doubt – so please, I beg you to step down and spare the judiciary the crisis of people losing faith in the institution (which does not enjoy the people’s full trust to begin with). Whatever good is being done by so many judges all over the country is undermined by your thoughtless and selfish act. Where has the core Filipino value of delicadeza gone? Please CJ Corona, let us know that it has not gone out of fashion.

    I understand that you want your innocence (if so) to be known, and if you are truly wrongfully accused, to set things straight, but perhaps there can be another forum for that (not so public courts/ or even media, after you stepped down). So set things straight there. As it is, any speck of impropriety, however miniscule, is magnified before the entire country and the international community, putting the Philippine judiciary itself to disrepute – so please try to avert it and do a self-sacrifice, if it comes to that. Do you honestly believe that you can still lead the courts and have the people’s confidence after this debacle? Please love the country and the judicial institution more – we expect no less from you. Or, do it even for less noble gesture – for your family, who will probably appreciate cessation of close public scrutiny.