MANILA, FEBRUARY 18, 2012 (PHILSTAR) SKETCHES By
Ana Marie Pamintuan (photo) - As of mid-afternoon of Day 19 in the
impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, the pieces of marked evidence
presented by the prosecution had reached "nonuple F."
The trial had not moved away from the bank deposits of Corona, amounting to
millions of pesos and possibly an additional millions of dollars, which he
appears to have failed to declare in his statements of assets, liabilities and
net worth (SALN).
PSBank branch manager Annabelle Tiongson, who giggled nervously throughout
much of her first day as a witness, now looks mainly harassed and occasionally
irritated. She looked particularly vexed when Sen. Jinggoy Estrada tried (in
vain) to make her confirm an apparent bum steer he received, that she personally
knows people close to the head of the House prosecution team, Iloilo Rep. Niel
Tupas.
Some intriguing new details surfaced yesterday, as the battle continued to
rage over the bank records of Corona. One is that on Dec. 12, the day he was
impeached last year by the House of Representatives, Corona closed three
accounts with PSBank containing a combined amount of P36.5 million as of
end-2010. Lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas emphasized that the accounts are
not covered by the Articles of Impeachment.
Another detail is that Quezon City Rep. Jorge "Bolet" Banal, a member of the
House prosecution team, went to the PSBank branch on Katipunan Avenue and asked
Tiongson to verify a photocopy of a signature card apparently for a dollar
account in the name of one Renato Corona. This was on Jan. 31, Tiongson
testified, or two days before another prosecutor, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo
Umali, claims to have received bank documents also involving dollar accounts
from a "small lady."
Banal expressed willingness to give his side to the Senate yesterday, but
some senators appeared to have a date and wanted to end the session early. OK,
it wasn't early at 6:30 p.m., but considering that the trial once lasted until
8:30 p.m., it wasn't that late. One thing good that this trial has done is to
make senators earn their enormous perks.
Finally allowed to talk, Banal confirmed Tiongson's story, and said he
received the photocopied document on the night of Jan. 30. He did not give
details about the source.
From the descriptions given in the course of the trial, however, it seems all
the players are talking about the same leaked document – one that started
spreading by social media about a week or two before the story about the dollar
account officially reached the impeachment court.
Jinggoy Estrada seemed to have seen the document, judging from the way he
initially grilled PSBank president Pascual Garcia III. Garcia looks perpetually
distressed.
After the trial, Banal attended a press conference of the prosecution team,
where he gave a few more details about the leaked document. But having learned a
lesson from that bizarre press conference called by the defense team last
Sunday, Banal and his colleagues left some information for the Senate
impeachment court to extract from him on Monday.
If the trial continues at this pace, people will increasingly turn to press
conferences by both camps to get a clearer picture of the likely denouement.
* * *
A month into the trial, we're not yet even halfway through all the Articles
of Impeachment. It's good to be painstaking in this unprecedented process; the
verdict must have sturdy legs to stand on. But really, can the nation wait until
May or June for a verdict?
Impatience can be a dangerous thing in this country. Impatience led to a
walkout of prosecutors in the impeachment of Joseph Estrada. The prosecutors
proceeded to the EDSA Shrine, people gathered in prayer to support them,
critical mass was attained, and in four days Erap had lost the presidency he had
won by a landslide.
President Aquino, not one to hide his dislike for anyone or anything, gave
his impatience full rein yesterday, letting loose with another attack on the
Chief Justice. Addressing students at a forum in La Consolacion College, P-Noy
said Corona, who promised to bare his dollar accounts "in due time," is now
"overdue."
P-Noy also rallied the public to support his efforts to clean up government,
in which he believes Corona's ouster is intrinsic.
Public impatience could intensify in the coming days as certain senators
increasingly return to their old ways of preening before live TV, further
prolonging the proceedings.
Yesterday there was a report that the House prosecution planned to cut the
number of articles of impeachment, if only to speed things up.
That would be good news. By Holy Week, if the trial continues to drag on,
everyone would be on vacation mode and tuned out.
The Senate verdict in this trial should be handed down when people are still
interested enough to care about the outcome.
A clear case should be laid out to the public on why the nation has to go
through this ordeal on the way to a verdict.
Lessons should be well learned so that we never have to go through this
again.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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