COMMITTING A 'FATAL ERROR'
MANILA, FEBRUARY 16, 2012
(INQUIRER) By Marlon Ramos - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
on Monday warned the prosecution that it was committing a "fatal error" for its
apparent failure to gather evidence against Chief Justice Renato Corona.
"It is your responsibility. In fact, I tell you—and I'm sorry to say this
frankly—your procedure, it seems to suggest to me as a presiding officer, that
you have no evidence," Enrile told private prosecutor Demetrio Custodio.
"You are gathering evidence by requesting a subpoena from this honorable
court. And I warn you that this is going to be fatal error on your part," he
continued.
Enrile, the Senate impeachment court's presiding officer, made the comment
after Custodio admitted that the prosecution did not request the appearance on
the witness stand of Annabelle Tiongson, the branch manager of the Philippine
Savings Bank (PSBank) on Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City.
Under grilling by Sen. Franklin Drilon, Tiongson admitted that Corona opened
five different peso time deposits in the bank from 2007 to 2010.
But before Drilon could pounce on the witness, Serafin Cuevas,
Corona's lead counsel, challenged the propriety of Drilon's questioning,
pointing out that neither the prosecution nor the defense had called Tiongson as
witness.
Cuevas also argued that Tiongson was summoned only to testify on the alleged
leak of the documents pertaining to Corona's alleged dollar account in PS Bank
Katipunan branch.
The documents, which the prosecution attached to its motion seeking to
subpoena Corona's bank records, were purportedly handed to Mindoro Oriental Rep.
Reynaldo Umali by a "small lady."
At one point, Cuevas asked Enrile why Tiongson was testifying and if she was
Drilon's witness, stressing that Custodio already stated that she was not a
witness for the prosecution.
"Here is a witness who has been examined by … Drilon. There is nobody who
claims her to be a witness. We cannot even prosecute her for perjury," Cuevas
said.
Enrile then told Custodio that the records showed that it was the prosecution
who requested the Senate to summon Tiongson and order her to present Corona's
supposed bank records.
"You should have asked the court to quash the subpoena," Enrile told
Custodio.
After several exchanges, Custodio subsequently moved to make the bank
official a prosecution witness.
Tiongson, answering questions from Custodio, revealed that Corona separately
opened five peso time deposits amounting to over P23 million from 2007 to 2010.
Spurious document
If was not clear, however, if the accounts were still active and if Corona
maintained them at the same time. But Tiongson admitted that Corona's accounts
earned a higher interest than a regular savings account.
Enrile also asked the Rep. Niel Tupas to explain within 24 hours how the
prosecution got hold of a purportedly spurious bank document after Tiongson
testified that the paper did not come from the bank.
"If it is a fake document, then I think that it is proper to cancel the
subpoena," Enrile declared.
Sen. Francis Escudero asked Tiongson to compare the bank records attached by
the prosecution to its motion for subpoena, with the original documents in the
bank's possession.
"All we are asking is if that is a faithful reproduction of what you have in
the bank to find out whether the prosecution gave us a fake document. Are they
fooling us? Of if it was leaked," he told the witness in Filipino.
If the bank documents would be proven to be fake or to have been acquired
through illegal means, the matter would have serious implications in the
complexion of the trial, according to defense lawyers Tranquil Salvador and Rico
Paolo Quicho.
"This is what we have been saying all along, that kind of evidence is
inadmissible. All we did the past few days, these past weeks would be wasted,"
Salvador said in Filipino in a press conference after the trial.
"At the end of the day, even if (the testimony) would not be stricken out, it
would not be inadmissible when the time comes for it to be formally offered as
evidence," Salvador added.
Quicho said, "What we have here now is either a spurious document or a leaked
document, either way the prosecution really needs to explain."
Quicho added that because this document was used and submitted before the
impeachment court without being verified or studied, "this has hit the heart of
the banking industry."
Quicho said that if the document was taken without the permission of the bank
or the owner "it is automatically illegal." With reports
from Christian V. Esguerra and Michael Lim Ubac of Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Matikas Santos of INQUIRER.net
Miriam berates prosecution over 'fake' documents By Jun Pasaylo (The
Philippine Star) Updated February 14, 2012 02:28 PMComments (133)
MANILA, Philippines - The prosecution panel today explained that its
real intent in producing supposed documents on the alleged bank records of Chief
Justice Renato Corona was to prove before the Senate impeachment court that such
accounts exist.
In a query by Senator-Judge Gringo Honasan, House prosecution member Rodolfo
Fariñas implied that they are not attempting to prove the validity of the
documents, insisting that they are seeking the court's guidance on how to secure
the documents via a court subpoena.
Fariñas, however, admitted that they cannot prove if their documents on the
Corona accounts were genuine, but pointed out that the financial records were in
existence.
"Ipinaabot namin ito sa senado, para mabigyan kami ng gabay," noted Farinas.
During the last part of yesterday's hearing, the Senate impeachment court
ordered the prosecution to explain in writing why it presented allegedly fake
bank documents.
This, after the Katipunan branch manager of the Philippine Savings Bank
(PSBank) testified during the trial that the bank documents presented by the
House prosecution team are not authentic.
In last week's hearings, House prosecution member Reynaldo Umali told the
court that the bank documents on the supposed accounts of Corona was discreetly
given to him after a hearing by a "little girl."
During yesterday's hearing, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told the
prosecution team that they did not see any "little girl" during a review of the
Senate's CCTV camera footage.
The documents presented by the prosecution team were the reason behind the
Senate's issuance of a subpoena to the PSBank and the Bank of the Philippine
Islands.
The Supreme Court last week issued a temporary restraining order on the
subpoena, which the Senate ruled to respect yesterday.
'Bizarre'
Senator-Judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago admonished the prosecution panel for
presenting the fake documents before the impeachment court.
Santiago dubbed the request of prosecution as "bizarre," saying they cannot
request the court to issue a subpoena based on an anonymous source.
"Saan ka nakakita ng pleading based on anonymous source?" she added.
"Why are you doing this to the court? Pleadings must be based in
jurisprudence," she pointed out, citing "You cannot tamper to the rules of
court."
She also said the prosecution be cited in direct contempt for presenting
documents that are not authentic.
"This is case of direct contempt. Any court on this country would not
entertain this request," she said, adding that presenting a fake document before
a court could lead to a prosecutor's arrest and disbarment.
She noted that it was the duty of the prosecution to prove that the documents
are authentic.
She said that the prosecution disgraced the impeachment court by presenting
invalid documents, which were the basis for the issuance of subpoenas on
Corona's bank records.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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