MANILA, JANUARY 29, 2012 (TRIBUNE) The request of Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona's defense team to disqualify Sen. Franklin Drilon from participating in the impeachment trial will have to be sought elsewhere, the presiding officer yesterday said.
According to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, "will not act" on the motion filed last Thursday by the defense panel seeking Drilon's inhibition from the proceedings for his alleged bias to the prosecution panel.
"We will not act on that. I don't know if they (senators) want to discuss that in the caucus. I will not even present that to the members of the court. They can appeal, if they can appeal somewhere," he said.
In a 15-page motion to inhibit, Corona's defense counsels "respectfully prayed that this motion...be calendared for hearing and after submission thereof, that the impeachment court render judgment and order the recusal, inhibition or disqualification of Senator-judge Franklin M. Drilon."
[PHOTO - DRILON WITH LIBERAL PARTY CRONIES ROXAS AND AQUINO]
Drilon earlier had said he would not inhibit himself from the impeachment trial, adding he would not even be made to change the manner of questioning in the proceedings.
The senator said the parties in the proceedings should not impute motives to the way he asks questions as members of the impeachment court are merely out to seek the truth from the charges hurled at Corona.
Enrile said the matter of inhibition of any of the senator-judges is a personal matter to each member of the upper chamber.
"That is addressed to the individual senator as it is addressed to the judge, whenever anybody would ask for the inhibition of a judge whether an ordinary judge or member of the SC. It all depends upon the member of the court, if he believes that he could be impartial.
"In the case of the courts, sometimes when it is really pulpable that a judge of a lower court is biased or prejudice against any party, the SC can order an inhibition. In our case, no one can order for the inhibition of any of the senators," he stressed.
Drilon's disqualification, Enrile explained, is not feasible simply because "he is an elected representative of the people."
"Under the Constitution, he is entitled to seat in all proceedings of the Senate unless he is removed in accordance with our rules on ethics," he said.
"So it's up to him. I will not deal with that," Enrile added.
Asked on the implication of Drilon's inhibition from the trial, Enrile begged off from dealing with the issue.
"I will not discuss a hypothesis," he said.
Enrile also maintained tht the defense panel's motion should not be taken by the senator-judges against the camp of Corona.
"That's a common position in a trial. Each side would want to take the most advantageous position for them," he said.
In the filed pleading, defense counsels former Justice Serafin Cuevas, Jose Roy III and Dennis Manalo noted that during the January 17 hearing, Drilon "cross-examine(d) and badger(ed) (Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta) Vidal in the guise of 'clarificatory' questions."
Vidal was then adamant to submit to the impeachment court Corona's statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALn) without, as a matter of the high court's rules, the authorization from SC justices en banc.
The prosecution panel failed to get the SALn from Vidal, prompting Drilon to ask Enrile to allow him to use his two-minute privilege to examine Vidal.
Giving in to the authority of the impeachment court over the rules of the Supreme Court over the issue of releasing the SALNs of justices, Vidal submitted the SALn of Corona to Enrile.
"Many of the questions propounded (by Drilon) to Atty. Vidal bordered on the power of the impeachment court to issue a subpoena and command compliance there with. What cannot be denied, however, is that the interference and pressure exerted by Senator-judge Drilon against lawyer Vidal resulted in the production of SALn of Corona, which the prosecution was unable to accomplish on its own," the defense stated.
In another incident, Drilon again played his "partiality by directly causing the introduction of evidence from a document intended to cast doubts on the role of Chief Justice, who acted as the attorney-in-fact, about the acquisition of P6.2-million condominium in McKinley Hill 1, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City by his daughter Charina, the defense panel said.
"Senator Judge Drilon, made sure to highlight this fact, as if to suggest that CJ Corona was the beneficial owner of the property," the defense said.
According to the defense team, this ruse was cleverly done while suppressing the fact that Corona had to act as an attorney-in-fact because his daughter is based abroad and cannot personally complete the purchase herself.
The defense panel cited the Rule XVII of the Senate Rules of Impeachment which guarantees the right of a senator to ask clarificatory questions to a prosecutor, a counsel or to witness within two minutes.
"It is however, incorrect to assume that a senator-judge would be justified to propound questions that amount to prosecuting the case or the witness, such in a case like this where the questions of Senator-judge Drilon were clearly intended to accomplish what the prosecution failed," the defense team added.
It further stated that Drilon "began to propound questions more akin to cross-examination and loaded with veiled threats, securing for the prosecution what they failed to do by themselves."
Immediately after Thursday's trial, Drilon said he would not inhibit from the impeachment proceedings, stressing he was just asking clarificatory questions and that he is not "favoring" any of the two camps. Angie M. Rosales
FROM THE INQUIRER
Motion for inhibition vs Drilon 'not attack on person', Corona lawyers say By Kate Evangelista INQUIRER.net 3:48 pm | Friday, January 27th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines – Lawyers of Chief Justice Renato Corona on Friday defended the motion for
inhibition they filed before the Senate against Senator-Judge Franklin Drilon, saying that they are "not attacking the person."
In a telephone interview on Friday, lawyer Tranquil Salvador told INQUIRER.net that they would "continue to respect the institution [Senate]".
"Hindi kami nandito para makipag-away.We are not here to fight. It's just something that we want the court to take note of," Salvador said, adding "It's a legal remedy and Senator Drilon knows that. He's a long-time practicing lawyer."
Salvador said that their filing a motion on Thursday did not automatically mean that Drilon would be excluded from the impeachment court proceedings.
"It's the impeachment court who will decide [on the motion for inhibition]. They will most likely form a caucus to decide on this," he said.
The defense team filed a 15-page motion on Thursday afternoon asking Drilon to inhibit from impeachment court proceedings after he had allegedly "displayed his partiality" by causing the introduction of evidence, particularly Corona's statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth during the January 17 hearing.
"It is respectfully prayed that this motion to inhibit be calendared for hearing and after submission thereof, that the impeachment court render judgment and order the recusal, inhibition or disqualification of Senator-Judge Franklin Drilon," the motion said.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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