CONVICT CJ / SERENO WILL NOT TESTIFY
MANILA, MARCH 3, 2012 (PHILSTAR) By Christina Mendez - It will
take clear and convincing evidence for the Senate, sitting as an impeachment
court, to decide on the guilt or conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona on
allegations that he betrayed public trust, culpably violated the Constitution
and committed graft and corruption.
This is the quantum of evidence which the presiding officer of the
impeachment court and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile wanted the Senate body
to delve into as the impeachment court would move to judge Corona once the
defense finalizes its presentation of evidence to controvert the prosecution's
assertions in a month of trial.
"Each member of the impeachment court has their own standards. They are not
alike," Enrile said when asked what quantum of evidence the body would use in
deciding the Corona case.
For him, Enrile said he is setting the bar on the quantum of evidence to
"clear and convincing evidence."
Enrile reiterated anew that it would be for the good of the country if Corona
were to testify before the body.
"It will settle a lot of issues… he is the best witness to clarify the
issues," he said.
Enrile said he would like to hear from Corona about the reported internal
problems of the Supreme Court as well as clarifications on his bank deposits,
which source of information is still being questioned by the Chief Justice's
lawyers.
Informed of lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas' statement that it would not
be seemly for Corona to testify, Enrile said he would leave the final decision
to the defense lawyers.
"I leave it to them, I'm not the lawyer of the Chief Justice. For me, Corona
would be the best person to controvert, to rebut all the accusations against
him. And I'm sure that he can handle the questions," Enrile said.
'Sole power to try and decide'
Unlike in the American law where the Senate has the sole power to try
all impeachment cases, Enrile said the Philippine Senate has the "sole power to
try and decide" in an impeachment case in the country.
"Our limitations are if private rights are involved in the course of the
trial, if the Bill of Rights are involved in the course of the trial. If illegal
searches are involved in the course of the trial, the Supreme Court has
jurisdiction," Enrile said.
Enrile said the Senate would be judged by the people if they made the proper
decision at the end of the trial.
"On that limited area of sole power to try and decide, the Supreme Court has
no jurisdiction, no appellation, no appeal to the SC either by the prosecutors
or the defense. If we arrive at a decision, that is final. The appeal would come
from the people. They will kick us all out if ever we committed an error in our
decision," he added.
Parameters set
According to Enrile, the senator-judges will decide on Article 2, 3 and 7
only since the prosecution dropped the other five Articles of Impeachment
against Corona early this week.
"Yes, no more, no less. Nothing more, totally as if the impeachment is
reduced only to three," he said.
Even if the five articles were dropped, Enrile said the defense could still
use the evidence they gathered for the remaining three articles of impeachment
if they see it relevant to their defense.
Enrile reiterated his call to both the defense and prosecution panels not to
bring the impeachment case outside of the impeachment court.
He said the Senate will finish the impeachment case until the end, noting
that it might not sound good to the Filipino citizenry if the Senate body would
order this verified complaint back to the House of Representatives which would
be tantamount to the dismissal of the case against Corona.
As regards President Aquino's continuing attacks against the Chief
Justice and open support to the prosecution panel, Enrile said it is within the
right of any official "to express his own opinion."
But Enrile said Aquino's statement should not be taken as a pressure to him
or any other senator-judge to rule in the administration's favor.
Asked if he would like to give any advice to Aquino, Enrile said they both
came from a co-equal department of government and declared in jest that he is "a
very expensive adviser."
On the questions that the Articles of Impeachment against Corona were not
well crafted, Enrile said it should now be a lesson to the House of
Representatives to ensure that their verified complaint is well studied.
"What happens now is a lesson and I hope the House will take this as a
friendly advice, that before they bring the impeachment complaint to us in the
Senate it should be well-crafted... it's not open to different interpretations,"
Enrile said.
Prior to the start of the impeachment last Jan. 16, Enrile said he studied
all the provisions on the grounds of impeachment to allow him to have a clear
and more objective picture on how to deal with the different issues during the
trial.
"Graft and corruption, other high crimes, bribery, treason, culpable
violation and betrayal of public trust. I studied all of those before the start
of the hearing. What each ground meant," he said.
Enrile added the defense camp can start with its presentation of witnesses
and testimonies on March 12 as set by the court last Wednesday.
"Subject to the reservation, the defense may now proceed or the court will
decide," he said.
SERENO WILL NO LONGER TESTIFY (The Philippine
Star) Updated March 02, 2012 12:00 AMComments (10)
[PHOTO - SERENO: MY TESTIMONY IS MOOT NOW]
MANILA, Philippines - Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno will no longer
testify in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Her decision was implied in a letter to House prosecutor Bayan Muna
party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares yesterday that made no mention of rulings of
both the Supreme Court (SC) and the Senate sitting as impeachment court against
her taking the witness stand.
Sereno only cited her belief that the request for her to testify already
became moot when the House prosecution panel moved to rest its case.
"I understand, however, that the termination of the presentation of evidence
by the prosecution panel yesterday and reiterated today before the impeachment
court has superseded your invitation," read Sereno's one-page letter to
Colmenares, who invited her on behalf of the panel.
Still, President Aquino's first appointee to the high court thanked the House
prosecutors for the invitation.
When asked if this means Sereno was willing to testify if only the
prosecution did not end its case, her senior staff lawyer Zaldy Trespeses did
not reply.
Sereno was supposed to attend the hearing yesterday to testify on her
dissenting opinion on the SC's issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO)
on the travel ban against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo in November last year.
But the trial was suspended for a week after the prosecution panel decided
not to present additional evidence, believing their case in Article 2 of the
complaint would suffice for a conviction.
Colmenares said he was not discouraged by Sereno's letter.
"If you read her (Sereno) letter, it was not a categorical rejection of our
invitation. She did not say: 'no, I will not testify'. She was just saying that
the prosecution has closed its presentation of evidence," he said.
Colmenares said he was disappointed with the decision of lead prosecutor Rep.
Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo to rest the case against Corona without making
reservation for the appearance of Sereno.
He said the best recourse is for the Senate impeachment court to subpoena
Sereno to compel her to testify.
Colmenares however said the move to request the Senate to issue a subpoena
would still be discussed within the prosecution panel.
In terminating the presentation of evidence on Tuesday, Tupas made
reservation only for the examination of Corona's dollar deposits in Philippine
Savings Bank if the SC reverses its decision to stop such examination.
Prosecution spokesman Rep. Miro Quimbo of Marikina said Tupas could not have
asked for time to present Sereno as a witness "because we did not know if she
was willing to testify or not."
"We could not leave the presentation of evidence hanging because we were
following a timeline for the expeditious conclusion of the trial," he said.
However, Quimbo said Sereno could still volunteer to appear in Corona's trial
to answer questions from senator-judges.
"I am sure the impeachment court knows how to handle her testimony," he
added.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, spokesman for the prosecutors, admitted they
were not really expecting Sereno to testify.
"We were really hoping but not expecting (her to appear before the
impeachment court)," Angara said.
"Anyway, her dissenting opinion is already on the record, so that's strong
enough," he said.
Sources told The STAR that Sereno had already finished her "ponencias" or
decisions of the SC that she was tasked to pen in order for her to have time to
testify.
The prosecution wanted Sereno's testimony for Article 7 of the impeachment
complaint, which charges Corona with alleged partiality for Arroyo in the SC's
issuance of its controversial Nov. 15 TRO that would have allowed Arroyo and her
husband to leave the country.
Sereno dissented from the majority vote for the grant of the TRO in favor of
the Arroyos, claiming there were irregularities in the issuance of the order.
Based on Sereno's dissenting opinion, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has
told the impeachment court that Corona made it appear that the Nov. 15 TRO was
immediately effective even without the Arroyos complying with its three
conditions.
De Lima said in effect, Corona helped Arroyo and her husband in their attempt
to leave the country and escape prosecution.
It was then President Arroyo who appointed Corona as associate justice and
later as chief justice.
In his answer to the impeachment complaint, the Chief Justice insisted that
the TRO took effect upon its issuance, and that the Arroyos had five days to
comply with its conditions.
Colmenares said had the Arroyos succeeded in flying out, they would now be
beyond the reach of the country's judicial system.
The day the restraining order was issued, Arroyo and her husband had booked
several outbound flights and went to the airport to try to board planes for
Singapore and Hong Kong, but immigration officers, on orders of De Lima,
prevented them from leaving. – Jess Diaz, Paolo
Romero
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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