HAS RUN OUT
MANILA, MARCH 29, 2012 (TRIBUNE) By Gerry Baldo and Benjamin B.
Pulta - The members of the House of Representatives did not expect the trial of
impeached Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona to take longer than
expected, with An Waray Rep. Florencio "Bem" Noel saying that the Lower House
already has spent over P3.5 million for supplies and food expenses during the
past 34 days of the trial.
Noel, chairman of the House committee on accounts, said P1.9 million was
spent for the supplies while food expenses reached P1.565 million.
Noel added at least P500,000 is yet to be liquidated since the money was used
for the operations of eight teams of prosecutors working on the eight articles
of impeachment.
He said the expense could have been higher had the services of some 50
private prosecutors who helped the 11-man House prosecution panel not been pro
bono or free.
He said, however, that private prosecutors may reimburse their gasoline
expenses from the budget of the House of Representatives.
It was the prosecution, however, that took close to three months of trial
dates in pursuing its case against the Chief Justice.
It is also likely that the House allies of President Aquino who rushed
the Articles of Impeachment against the Chief Justice believed that Corona
would quickly resign and that there would be no trial.
The prosecution had already dropped five articles and their sub charges out
of eight articles of impeachment.
It rested its case sometime in late February this year.
Earlier, Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. disclosed that the House of
Representatives decided to allot initial P5 million in funds.
But since the trial was not terminated this month, Noel said the prosecution
panel may need an additional P1 million to sustain its operations as the trial
will be stretched to May.
"We didn't anticipate this to extend up until May, we thought it would be
finished by March," said Noel.
Why they failed to anticipate this was not explained and why they thought the
trial would be finished by March was also not explained, considering the fact
that it was only in the second week of March that the defense started its turn.
It is impossible for the prosecution to have believed that the defense would
only take two weeks to present its case while the prosecution had all of two and
a hlaf months for its turn.
The P5 million initial budget of the prosecution panel was copied in the
funds given to the prosecution panel during the aborted impeachment trial of
then President Joseph Estrada in 2000 where Belmonte was the impeachment
manager.
Noel said the funds of the prosecution panel this year came from the
Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of the House of Representatives.
He said that despite the huge expenses incurred, the impeachment process was
worth the effort.
"It was worth it, just to cleanse the Supreme Court," said Noel.
This developed as House Majority Leader Neptali "Boyet" Gonzales urged Corona
to come clean on at least two properties in the United States that were
reportedly owned by his family.
Blogger Raissa Robles said that a certain "Renato C. Corona" was linked to
two addresses in Tampa, Florida and Mountain View, California, then claimed that
the chief magistrate flip-flopped whether he and his family owned the US
properties.
The alleged flip-flopping was a spin made by a newspaper and quickly picked
up by the yellow broadcast media, since the Chief Justice said that they,
meaning his wife and himself, do not own properties in the US. The family member
who owns the property is their daughter, Charina. There was never any flip flop
in his statement.
But the spin was continued by a ranking House leader, saying "so what is
really the truth, Chief Justice Corona? Does your family own the properties or
not?" asked Gonzales. "The Filipino people deserve an explanation, they deserve
to know the truth."
Although the prosecution panel is still studying the possibility of including
Corona's properties abroad in its rebuttal, Gonzales said the top magistrate
owes the public a "convincing" explanation now in the wake of Robles' report.
"The chief justice must convince the public that he does not own the US
properties. He should come up with a convincing explanation otherwise people
would think he is again hiding something," he said, in a bid to put the CJ on
the defensive.
Corona has vehemently denied owning any property in the US, saying the
residences mentioned in Robles' blog were just their "temporary mailing
addresses" while they were on a visit there.
Robles then came up with claim that the daughter of Corona bought a property
in in Placer County, California and insinuated that Charina was Corona's dummy,
without presenting any proof of it.
According to the House majority leader, the prosecution does not dismiss the
possibility that Corona owns the US property considering that it is also under
the name of his daughter Maria Charina, whom his defense counsels claimed to
have bought the 203-square-meter lot in McKinley Hills, Taguig City at P6.2
million.
"We wouldn't be surprised if the Chief Justice also owns the Placer County
house looking at how he made the McKinley property appear to be owned by Maria
Charina," Gonzales said.
Other House sources said that it is not a remote possibility that Corona also
owns properties in his hometown of Batangas.
It is the theory of the prosecution that Corona used his children as dummies
to hide his unexplained wealth. In the case of the McKinley property, there was
evidence showing that the Chief Justice signed as owner in the reservation
agreement and paid it on 27 installments, as shown in the receipts.
The defense however has already proved, through official and notarized
documents, that it is the daughter who owns the condo, as she had executed a
power of attorney in favor of her father.
Charina lives in the US.
Meanwhile lawyers of the Chief Justice said the strategically-timed release
of misleading reports of the magistrate supposedly owning properties in the
United States proves that the prosecution had hurriedly pushed the impeachment
case without completing all its investigation.
Information about the supposed properties was leaked to coincide when the
Senate impeachment court was on recess preventing the defense to air its
unedited position on the controversy.
Coronas' counsels also welcomed the statements of two senator-judges who
doubted on the admissibility of the US properties report to the ongoing
impeachment trial.
Corona has denied owning real properties in the US and denounced blogger
Raissa Robles for spreading miselading information that the Chief Justice has
real properties abroad.
Senator-Judge Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said it was "too late in the day"
for the prosecution to present evidence on the supposed US properties of the
Chief Justice because it has already rested its case in so far as the Chief
Justice's properties are concerned. The prosecution ended its presentation of
evidence last March 1.
For his part, Senator-Judge Rafael Recto said that the US properties report
was "irrelevant, immaterial, and impertinent to the ongoing trial."
Lawyer Tranquil Salvador III, echoed the sentiments of Pimentel, saying that
the recent flaunting of the said US properties only proved further that the
impeachment complaint indeed has been railroaded and is utterly defective. It
confirmed what the defense has always been saying that the prosecution continues
to fish for evidence through shadow subalterns even after they have rested their
case.
He prodded the prosecution to amend the impeachment complaint if they are
convinced that the so called US properties of the Chief Justice are material and
relevant to the impeachment case.
"They should amend the articles of impeachment if they are confident that
this piece of evidence will stand in a court of law instead of entertaining this
so-called evidence outside of the impeachment court," he said.
FROM ABS-CBN
Corona impeachment cost reaches P6M by RG Cruz,
ABS-CBN News Posted at 03/28/2012 10:23 PM | Updated as of 03/28/2012 10:40
PM
High political cost for PNoy if Corona is acquitted, says
analyst
MANILA, Philippines - If you think you have no stake in the
impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, think again.
The House of Representatives and Senate sitting as an impeachment court, have
already spent close to P6 million for the trial using taxpayers' money.
From the start of the trial until March 21, the House of Representatives has
already spent P3.5 million.
Accounts committee chair An-Waray Rep. Florencio Bem Noel said about P1.5
million of the amount was spent on food, with the rest going to miscellaneous
expenses for logistics.
The private prosecutors are offering their services to the House pro bono
(free).
However, the 8 impeachment teams have been given combined petty cash worth
P500,000 that still has to be liquidated.
The House sourced its funding from the budget originally meant for the
impeachment of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
The prosecution expects to spend P2 million more until the end of trial.
Rep. Noel gives his assurance their expenses are all accounted for.
Senate spends P2.4 million
At the Senate, data show that as of March 6, the chamber has spent some P2.4
million.
A bulk of the amount goes into the overtime pay of personnel, with the rest
going to supplies, equipment, and maintenance.
Political costs
Political analyst Prospero de Vera of the University of the Philippines,
however, thinks that the financial toll of the trial is not as expensive as the
cost in terms of time and productivity in the exercise of the legislature's
regular function.
De Vera said that on the part of the Senate, it has to cram plenary and
committee hearings in the morning on just 3 days a week.
With minimal output from the committees, there can only be minimal output
from the plenary as well.
"What can you do in 2 hours to deliberate if you don't have committees? You
won't have much to feed to the floor. Action of the committee determines the
floor," de Vera said.
He, however, noted that it's worse for the House, which really shouldn't be
the case because the trial happens at the Senate.
Important legislation such as the reproductive health bill, the freedom of
information bill and the rationalization of fiscal incentives remain pending.
From January 16 to March 21, both houses of Congress have only passed one
national bill into law -- Republic Act 10157 institutionalizing the kindergarten
education into the basic education program.
According to de Vera, there are other costs to the trial, particularly for
President Benigno Aquino, whose staunch advocacy of Corona's conviction could
prove to be very costly should the chief justice be cleared by the impeachment
court.
"They will have to contend with the chief justice from now until 2016," he
said.
De Vera hopes the President will respect the court's decision, whatever it
may be. - ANC
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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