ALLIES: DON'T MEDDLE IN CORONA CASE
MANILA, JANUARY 6,
2012 (STANDARD) by Joyce Pangco Pañares, Rey
E. Requejo and Christine F. Herrera - PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has ordered
his Cabinet and congressional allies to distance themselves from the members of
the Senate to avoid being accused of trying to influence the outcome of the
impeachment trial against Chief Justice Renato Corona, an official said Tuesday.
"We respect the separation of branches of government. The President gave us
instructions to distance ourselves from the Senate," Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad said.
Abad, a member of the Liberal Party and Mr. Aquino's senior political
adviser, said the administration had "full confidence" in the Senate, especially
in the leadership of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
He said the administration would "cooperate" with prosecutors in gathering
and presenting evidence against Corona.
"To the extent that we can, we cooperate. We will not stand in the way," Abad
said.
There are four Liberal Party members in the Senate: Francis Pangilinan, Ralph
Recto, Franklin Drilon, and Teofisto Guingona III.
Corona was impeached by the House of Representatives on Dec. 12 for alleged
graft and corruption, betrayal of the public trust, and violation of the
Constitution.
House prosecutors continued their public attack on the chief justice ahead of
the trial, saying Corona and his wife were the owners of a P14.5-million
condominium unit in the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Another member of the prosecution panel said other justices might later be
impeached for their decisions after Corona was ousted.
Corona's trial is set to start on Jan. 16. But more lawyers on Tuesday urged
the Supreme Court to declare the impeachment complaint unconstitutional, even as
others urged it to avoid intervening and simply allow the trial to proceed.
Former assemblyman Homobono Adaza and ousted President Joseph Estrada's
lawyer Alan Paguia on Tuesday added their petitions to four others urging the
high court to reject the articles of impeachment transmitted by the House to the
Senate for trial.
The other petitions were earlier filed by Social Justice System lawyer
Vladimir Cabigao, tax informer Danilo Lihaylihay, former Integrated Bar of the
Philippines president Vicente Millora, and lawyer Oliver Lozano.
Adaza and Paguia said in their petition that the impeachment complaint
against Corona "has not been verified by the overwhelming majority of the
complainants."
"Not having been verified, the so-called 'verified complaint' is a mere scrap
of paper with no legal effect," they said.
They argued that the House also violated due process and the Constitution's
equal-protection clause by the swift approval of eight articles of impeachment
by 188 congressmen.
Adaza and Paguia went further and said the Senate abused its discretion when
it accepted the articles of impeachment despite the lack of verification.
"In reality, the Senate has no legal basis for convening themselves into an
impeachment jury," Paguia said in an interview.
"And to avoid making the issue moot and academic, we are asking the Supreme
Court to stop or issue a temporary restraining order against the Senate from
proceeding with the trial of the impeachment articles."
Meanwhile, the camp of the chief justice expressed optimism they would get a
favorable verdict from the impeachment court, especially after President
Aquino's chief political adviser Ronald Llamas himself admitted that acquittal
was a possibility.
"We are hoping the chief justice will be acquitted," Court spokesman Jose
Midas Marquez told reporters.
"His lawyers already submitted an answer where it was shown that not only the
impeachment complaint was weak, but also the process of filing the complaint."
Marquez said lawyers led by retired Justice Serafin Cuevas would also respond
to the reply filed by the House on Monday, if necessary.
The lead impeachment prosecutor, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., told reporters
that Corona and his wife Cristina bought a condominium unit and three parking
slots for P14.5 million at the Bellagio in Bonifacio Global City.
He challenged Corona again to produce his statement of assets and liabilities
to show if the condominium was included.
Corona and the Supreme Court's other justices have not made their statements
of assets and liabilities public since a 1992 decision that shields them from
"deceptive requests" for information that could lead to intimidation, harassment
and fishing expeditions.
Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong, an opposition lawmaker, criticized the
prosecution for using a press conference instead of the trial to expose its
charges against the chief justice.
A spokesman for the prosecution panel, House Deputy Majority Leader Miro
Quimbo, on Tuesday said that while it would be difficult to prosecute several
Supreme Court justices at the same time, their focus on Corona at the moment did
not mean that other justices would not later be impeached.
"At the moment, the evidence against Corona is stronger and more apparent
than against the other justices ... But this does not necessarily mean that
other justices will not later on be similarly held accountable," Quimbo said.
With Maricel Cruz
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
