OFFICIALS / ENRILE: CASE OF WRONG SURVEY IS THE MAN ON THE CROSS
[PHOTO - DEFENSE's SALVADOR AND CUEVAS]
MANILA,
MARCH 22, 2012 (INQUIRER) By
Marlon Ramos - Thanks, but no thanks.
Despite misgivings by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, defense lawyers on
Monday said they would go ahead with the presentation of the asset declarations
of other public officials to prove that Chief Justice Renato Corona did not
violate the Constitution as alleged by the prosecution.
Reacting to Enrile's and other senators' contention that submitting the
statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) of other government
officials was irrelevant in Corona's impeachment trial, Tranquil Salvador III
said the members of the Senate tribunal were "entitled to their own opinion."
"As much as we respect them, we believe in our way to defend the Chief
Justice," Salvador told reporters.
"The prosecution or any other individual cannot dictate on us how we should
present our case. The law gave us that guarantee," he said in Fiipino.
Enrile said in a radio interview over the weekend that Corona's lawyers
should drop its plan to present other SALNs and instead answer questions on
Corona's bank accounts.
"Let's not complicate things anymore," he said. "Go direct to the point. You
just explain the charges against you. Then it's done."
But Salvador said it was important to show the "pattern" and the "existing
practice" of government officials in filing their SALNs.
"We take note of the observations of the Senate President and we are very
much receptive and sensitive to the observation of the senator-judges," he said.
Just as the defense was trying to convince the Senate impeachment court that
Corona was innocent of the charges against him, Salvador said it was also
important to explain to the public that the Chief Justice faithfully submitted
his SALN.
"We all know that this matter is not just being litigated in the court, but
also in bar of public opinion. If we cannot explain this to the people, then
they might think that the allegations (against Corona) were true," the lawyer
said.
"We just want to present our case in a methodical and orderly manner," he
said. "We don't want to drag other public officials into this issue. We're not
trying to ridicule, embarrass or humiliate other people. That's the least of our
concern."
Revisit SALN law
Salvador said most public officials thought the submission of the SALN was
"being done just for the purpose of disclosure and compliance."
"That's why it's high time for us to revisit the SALN law. Is the failure to
submit a correct SALN an impeachable offense? In time, we will prove that it's
not," he said.
The defense panel has petitioned the Senate to subpoena veteran journalist
Malou Mangahas and her colleagues in the Philippine Center for Investigative
Journalism (PCIJ) to appear on the witness stand.
In a motion, Corona's lawyers said Mangahas and the PCIJ staff members who
wrote articles and a documentary film about the SALN of justices and other
public officials "will disprove any alleged willful omission of the entries in
his SALNs and likewise show good faith in filling up the same."
Rico Paolo Quicho, a defense spokesperson, said the constitutional provision
on the SALN did not require more stringent guidelines for the Chief Justice and
other magistrates of the Supreme Court than any other public official.
"We should take note that the Constitution … did not say that we should use
different standards for the Chief Justice because of his position," Quicho told
reporters.
"I think it's wrong to say that we should have a higher standard because he
is the head of the judiciary," he added.
No distinctions
Quicho said the compliance of all government workers, including appointed and
elected officials, should be gauged only according to what the Constitution and
the SALN law stated.
"If the law does not make any distinction, we should not make any
distinction. The bottom line here is that all public officials, not only the
Chief Justice, must comply with what the Constitution said about the submission
of SALN," he said.
Quicho pointed out that the Civil Service Commission recently announced that
it would issue a new SALN form which would require specific entries—proof that
the current SALN did not require detailed information.
He said even if Corona would be found to have been remiss in filling out his
SALN, the gravity of the offense was not enough to warrant the Chief Justice's
impeachment.
"There are no clear guidelines. We've been constantly saying that there is no
clear cut indicator on how to enter or fill up all the entries in the SALN
form," Quicho said.
Enrile questions relevance of testimonies of 2 defense
witnesses By Michael Lim Ubac Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:58 am |
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines—Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
questioned the relevance of the testimony of two witnesses presented by the
defense panel on Monday.
Enrile repeatedly inquired what was the rationale of the defense in calling
Randy Rutaquio, the register of deeds of the City of Taguig, and Benz John
Ignacio Lim, property manager of The Columns-Ayala condominium on Ayala and Gil
Puyat Avenues in Makati.
Rutaquio, who had been earlier called to the stand by the prosecution,
testified on four condominium certificates of title (CCT) issued to Chief
Justice Renato Corona and his wife, Cristina, on Jan. 25, 2010. The titles cover
the penthouse unit and three parking slots for the Bellagio property in Taguig.
At this point, Enrile pointed out to a defense counsel, Noel Lazaro, that the
senators were anxiously waiting for answers from the defense on issues such as
the Chief Justice's statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) which
"did not call for a reflection of acquisition cost of real properties involved."
Lazaro admitted that the acquisition cost was "left blank" in all the SALNs
of the Chief Justice since Corona joined the Supreme Court in 2002.
But although the acquisition cost was not reflected, "however, the deed of
absolute sale was publicly disclosed and filed" by the Chief Justice before
concerned agencies such as the Register of Deeds of Taguig and the Bureau of
Internal Revenue, according to Lazaro.
He explained that the defense was presenting Rutaquio as its own witness "to
prove that along with the issuance of the titles, there will be relevant
documents in his office, more particularly the deed of absolute sale and the
certificate authorizing registration pertaining to this Bellagio property."
Lazaro also said that the second purpose of Rutaquio's testimony was "to
prove" that another transfer certificate of title covering a property in
McKinley Hill, also in Taguig, under the name of Ma. Charina R. Corona was
issued by the Taguig register of deeds in October 2008, and entered into between
Megaworld Corp. and Charina, a daughter of the Chief Justice.
To which Enrile asked: "What is the relevance to this impeachment trial of
that property?"
Lazaro replied that this would prove that the property was not included in
any of the SALNs of the Chief Justice because "it is in fact owned by another
person under the name of Ma. Charina Corona."
The McKinley property was listed under the name of Ma. Charina Corona and
cost P6.196 million.
A defense lawyer, Jose Roy III, called Lim to testify that the Coronas owned
unit 31-B in The Columns-Ayala condominium. But when Roy belabored the point on
the job description of Lim as well as the payment of association dues of Mrs.
Corona, a puzzled Enrile asked: "What is the relevance of all of these?"
Enrile said that he was made to understand that the witness was being
presented to explain why the Columns condominium penthouse was bought in a prior
year but was reflected in the Chief Justice's SALN only in 2010.
FROM THE INQUIRER
Enrile: Classic case of wrong survey is the Man on the
cross By Cynthia D. Balana, Marlon Ramos, TJ Burgonio Philippine
Daily Inquirer 1:24 am | Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
[PHOTO - 'PEOPLE POWER'?]
The cold facts of evidence, not poll surveys, will decide the fate of
impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona come judgment day, senator-judges said
Tuesday.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and his colleagues belittled the effect of
surveys on their final decision to convict or acquit the Chief Justice, after a
Pulse Asia survey showed that close to half of the respondents believed he was
guilty.
"I will look at the evidence," Enrile told reporters. "If we use surveys to
convict or not to convict a person charged in courts, then we do not need the
courts. All we have to do is conduct surveys whenever somebody is charged."
Enrile recalled that one senator voted in favor of then impeached US
President Andrew Johnson in the 1860s, and was "destroyed by public opinion, but
in the end, was vindicated."
"The voting was almost even and one senator voted in his favor to save him.
This guy was destroyed by public opinion but later on it turned out that he was
correct," he said.
Enrile was referring to US Sen. Edmund Ross who provided the decisive vote
that acquitted Johnson, who was impeached over his reconstruction policy.
Administer justice
Enrile said he was not preoccupying himself with surveys because the job of
the impeachment court was to administer justice.
"We are administering justice here and the classic case of a survey that was
wrong is the man on the cross… He was judged by a survey and until now people
are worshiping him," he said of Jesus Christ.
In a Pulse Asia poll of 1,200 respondents nationwide from Feb. 26 to March 9,
47 percent held the view that Corona was guilty. Forty-three percent could not
say whether he was guilty. Only 5 percent said Corona was innocent.
The results were music to the ears of the prosecution panel from the House of
Representatives.
Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, a prosecution spokesperson, said the public
sentiments should warrant the removal from office of the Chief Justice at the
end of the trial.
"It only shows that the people monitoring the impeachment proceedings are
convinced by the evidence presented by the prosecution," Tañada said.
People's approval
He said he was pleased to learn that despite the criticisms that the
prosecutors had received early on in the course of presenting evidence, people
still approved of what they did in presenting evidence before senator-judges.
"This shows that the evidence that we've presented is substantial to sway the
minds of the people that the Chief Justice is guilty," Tañada said.
Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo said the survey results were a reflection of
public sentiment toward Corona.
"The Chief Justice is accused of betrayal of public trust and the operative
word there is the public, and it is important how we see the public in a snap
shot," Quimbo said.
Not popularity contest
As expected, Corona's defense lawyers downplayed the survey, saying that the
trial was not a popularity contest. They also said that senator-judges should be
guided only by "law and evidence."
Jose Roy III, one of the defense counsels, expressed confidence that the
public perception on Corona's guilt would have little effect on how the senators
would eventually decide the case.
Despite their perceived political inclinations, the senators would "stand by
their oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws of
the Philippines," Roy said.
"That's their oath… (It's) not according to what the Filipino people believe
is popular," he told reporters before the start of the proceedings.
"We think that that is the most important standard and that at the end of the
day, the senators will honor their oath," he said.
Asked if the defense could still convince the public of Corona's innocence,
Roy said: "I am confident that the votes that matter are all inside the session
hall."
"I think that the tide is in our favor," Roy said. "Our principal concern is
the evidence and the law. Public opinion can be affected by many things, but
evidence should be able to speak clearly for the innocence of the Chief Justice
and I think we are well on our way to accomplishing that."
Defense still to be heard
Rico Paolo Quicho, a spokesperson for the defense, said Corona's lawyers
would present more evidence and witnesses that would help the public and the
senators understand the Chief Justice's explanation on the questions over his
properties.
"We believe that the people closely observing this process would be able to
see and understand our point," Quicho said, adding:
Tranquil Salvador III, also of the defense panel, said the Pulse Asia survey
showed positive indicators for Corona.
For one, Salvador said the poll indicated that more Filipinos were "willing
to hear out" the Chief Justice's explanation.
He also noted that the survey was done during the period before the defense
started presenting its own witnesses and evidence on March 12.
"It shows that a great bulk of our population is waiting for the presentation
of our case. This is a good indication because they are ready to hear us," he
said.
"This is enough to show that we are doing well in this process. It's good for
the country because if we are able to finish this, it would give us a certain
level of maturity in addressing issues as a nation."
Premature
In the Supreme Court, its spokesperson, Jose Midas Marquez, questioned the
timing of the release of the survey results, noting that the defense had not yet
even finished presenting its case.
"First of all, it's premature. The impeachment case is still pending. I don't
know exactly what the bases are of the respondents for saying that," Marquez
told reporters.
"I hope it was not taken and released to influence the senator-judges to
decide one way or the other. As I've said, the defense is not yet through with
its presentation of its case," he said.
"Maybe, they should do the survey only after the trial," he added. With a report from Philip C. Tubeza
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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