'BUSY' AQUINO DISAPPOINTS CHURCH GROUP
[PHOTO - JPE in lighter moments at Impeach Trial]
MANILA,
MARCH 25, 2012 (TRIBUNE) By
Michaela P. del Callar and Benjamin B. Pulta - Senate President and presiding
judge in the impeachment court, Juan Ponce Enrile, yesterday said the
impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona is likely to reach its
conclusion in May.
Enrile added that the Senate verdict will be out immediately after the
defense presents all its witnesses.
"I have given them one month. That was long already with 25 witnesses," he
said, stressing that the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, will "decide
immediately."
"We've been hearing the case. We know already what the case is all about.
Everyday we get and we hear the declaration of the witnesses. We have a record
of the proceedings in the form of a journal," Enrile said.
"All we have to do is read those things and then, if you are attentive, at
this point, you know what is going on," he added.
Enrile also said the rebuttal of the prosecution is not expected to take
long.
"It's easy. You don't present the entire case again," he said.
Corona is the subject of an ongoing impeachment trial under three Articles of
Impeachment.
What is being proved by the defense team of Corona is focused on Article 2,
which refers to the Chief
Justice's alleged failure to disclose his SALn.
There are two more Articles to be tackled, Article 3 and 7, although the
prosecution has not proved ist charges on the two articles.
Meanwhile, church and student groups are making public calls for the Chief
Justice to testify in his own behalf in the impeachment trial in the Senate .
The Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB) and Catholic Educators Association of
the Philippines (CEAP) also urged the embattled Chief Magistrate to take a leave
of absence until the end of the trial.
In a letter sent to Corona's office, the groups asked the Chief Justice to
"make good on his word and set his pronouncements into action."
"We ask that you make good on your word and set your pronouncements into
action, so that you can finally make your manifestations under oath. We believe
it is only by truth-telling that you can prove that your actions are based on
public responsibility. The impeachment court, will be a good, if not the best
venue for truth-telling," they said in their letter.
It was not known why these groups can't seem to wait for the defense to
continue its systematic presentation of evidence and why they insist on the
Chief Justice's testimony in open court when it is not compulsory for any
accused to testify in his own trial.
The group is composed of priests, seminarians and lay individuals based from
the Ateneo de Manila University. CEAP, on the other hand,claims to be the
biggest organization of Catholic schools in the country.
"We respectfully call on you to voluntarily open and make public the contents
of your foreign currency deposit accounts. You have made numerous pronouncements
that you will open them in 'due time.' At this time when the people's search for
truth has zeroed in on your SALns and bank records, there is no more appropriate
time to open your dollar accounts than now," the groups said.
They also said they believe Corona should take a voluntary leave of absence
until the impeachment court hands down its verdict.
"We believe your continued presence in, and influence upon the Supreme Court
which makes various decisions in relation to your own trial, will result in a
process that cannot be deemed fair nor credible," it stressed.
However, an earlier survey stated that a big majority of the respondents
believe that the impeachment process is fair and impartial.
These groups also belong to the yellow group of President Aquino, all of whom
junked the rule of law in 2001 and embraced the rule of force.
The letter was personally delivered by Rev. Fr. Jose Quilongquilong,director
of the Loyola House of Studies; Erik John Gerilla, SLB Director; Mark Lopez; and
Butch Evarola, CEAP advocacy officer.
They were accompanied by student council leaders from Ateneo de Manila
University, De La Salle University, University of the Philippines, University of
the East, Philippine Normal University, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines and the Pamantasan Lungsod ng Muntinlupa.
FROM MANILA BULLETIN
'Busy' Aquino Disappoints Church Group By LESLIE
ANN G. AQUINO March 25, 2012, 12:23am
[PHOTO - National Council of Churches in the Philippines
(NCCP).]
MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno S. Aquino III's failure to meet a
visiting church dignitary has disappointed the National Council of Churches in
the Philippines (NCCP).
Rev. Rex Reyes Jr., NCCP general secretary, said they find it unfortunate
that the planned courtesy call of Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary
of the World Council of Churches (WCC), on the President last Friday did not
materialize because of the President's busy schedule.
"Dr. Tveit is very much aware of issues in the Philippines and while he would
have raised certain concerns, he would have also conveyed support to the
resumption of the formal peace negotiations," Reyes said in a statement.
"We tried to seek this audience between the visiting leader and the President
hinged on his campaign promises," Reyes added.
He said Dr. Tveit is a Norwegian and is aware of the role of the Royal
Norwegian Government on the peace process.
In an earlier dialogue with the WCC official, a group of victims of human
rights violations and their families confirmed that human rights violations
persist even under the Aquino administration.
They said the government is implementing Oplan Bayanihan, a counterinsurgency
plan that targets and "eliminates" perceived enemies of the state who are
civilians and unarmed.
The group requested the WCC to help lobby to the Philippine government to
stop Oplan Bayanihan. A number of victims of extrajudicial killings from 2001 to
the present belong to member churches of the WCC.
Tveit is in the country for the pre-assembly conference of the World Council
of Churches' Commission for World Mission and Evangelism (WCC-CWME) which opened
March 22 at the Traders Hotel in Manila.
The conference, which will run until March 27, brings together around 300
church leaders from around the world from various Christian traditions –
Protestants, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, independent churches, Orthodox and
Pentecostal Churches.
The pre-assembly aims to take a second look at mission and evangelism in the
complex and difficult context. A draft was prepared by the CWME which is hoped
to be adopted by this assembly. The final assembly paper would then be presented
to the WCC General Committee before it is presented to the 10th General Assembly
of the WCC to be held in Busan, South Korea, in 2013.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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