Say it came from Lotto

If Chief Justice Corona would ask me to suggest something that could get him out of the problem of proving where he got all the money to buy those condominiums and other real estate properties he had been acquiring in the past ten years, I’d tell him to try telling the impeachment court that he won it from Lotto. Isn’t it true that Lotto winnings are tax-free? So he wouldn’t have to explain to the investigators of Madame Kim Henares when they start shuffling through his tax payment records.

***

That may sound crazy to lawyers, but who knows? Desperate cases call for desperate measures. I heard before that millionaires avoid paying the proper taxes due their properties by buying the winning tickets of people they know and claiming it to be their own. The problem now, however, is that those who won in the years covered may all have encashed their winnings already. As I also noted, it could be a crazy idea. Excuse me.

***

That was a horrible ending to a football game in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. After a match between local players, the Al Masri and the Al-Ahly, which the former won, chaos broke out where supporters of one teams began throwing stones, bottles and even firecrackers at members of the other team, causing panic among the thousands of fans that had gathered for the game. It turned out to be no sports affair, at all, because, as of late yesterday, 74 had already been confirmed dead, with hundreds injured.

***

What was further appalling is that it is turning out that politics could have triggered the riot. The losing team is said to be backed by supporters of the ousted president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak. Those killed were not just trampled on, as usually happens in panic-stricken crowds, many of them were stabbed, beaten and even strangled. Egyptians are blaming the police for not acting, and footages focused on a cop who was just standing there, doing nothing. But the fatalities also included a policeman. The incident brought to mind the deadly Wowowee riot in Manila a few years ago.

***

Another sports tragedy is what happened to a Filipino boxer from Iloilo, Karlo Maquinto, who collapsed after a bout at the Recom Dome in Caloocan, then lapsed into a coma and has now been pronounced by doctors at the FEU Hospital as clinically dead. Maquinto had been knocked down three times in the fight with Mark Josef Costa and one of the blows must have jarred his brains. Doctors see no more hope for him but his family is still hoping for a miracle and refuses to have his life support apparatus unplugged. Let us also pray for him and his family.

***

By the way, the media made much of the fact that former President Joseph Estrada attended the impeachment hearing of Chief Justice Renato Corona the other day. Of course Erap is not a masochist who enjoys being reminded of what had also happened to him, but he says Corona is luckier than he had been because his didn’t even get to “closure”. Well, at least, any other president or justice who gets impeached in the future will no longer be the FIRST, there will be precedent cases already.

***

Meanwhile, I noted yesterday that there are already attempts from both the prosecutors and the defense in the Corona impeachment case to speed up the process a bit. Indeed, it also gets boring listening to what seems to be repetitious questions on details. Oh, is it also true that the outcome of an impeachment trial is not necessarily removal from office, but could just be a suspension or mere reprimand? My goodness, what are we then spending so much time and money on for this one?

***

After hearing the Latin terms so often in the hearing, I have become fascinated with “sub poena duces tecum ad testificandum” that I take to mean, roughly, “come, appear and say something.” I think I will surprise my friends to come and say something on my next birthday, by sending them a “subpoena duces tecum ad testificandum”. Remember, I planned this first, don’t pre-empt me!*

back to top