MISCALCULATED
MANILA, MARCH 7, 2012 (MALAYA) BENJAMIN DIOKNO 'No wonder
Malacañang wants a swift resolution of the impeachment trial. It wants to cut
its losses.'
MALACAÑANG hastily prepared an impeachment case against Chief Justice Corona.
The prosecution panel thought that they didn't have to prepare a decent case.
The hope was that Corona would resign under a threat of public humiliation and
trial by publicity just like what Malacañang did with Ombudsman Merceditas
Gutierrez. But the chief justice decided to fight.
Malacañang, fearing public 'fatigue' and expressing a desire for the country
to move on, said that it wants a swift conclusion to the impeachment trial. This
indicates that Malacañang is confident that it has the required 16 votes to
convict Corona or it wants to relieve the bumbling prosecution panel from
further public humiliation for its inept preparation and presentation.
The prosecution rests. But it has opted to present evidence on only three
articles of impeachment and has decided not to pursue the remaining five other
articles. So far, below is a summary of what happened since the impeachment
trial started on January 16.
Article 1: Partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo
administration from the time he was appointed as associate justice to the time
of his 'midnight appointment' as chief justice. Status: Charge dropped.
Article 2: Failed to disclose to the public his statement of assets,
liabilities, and net worth as required under the constitution. Status: SALN
filed but not disclosed in accordance with Supreme Court decision dating back to
the time of Chief Justice Davide. Evidence is grossly incomplete. Information on
bank accounts runs the risk of being excluded because they were acquired
illegally.
Article 3: Failing to meet and observe the stringent standards under the
constitution that provides that "[a] member of the judiciary must be a person of
proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence" in allowing the Supreme
Court to act on mere letters filed by a counsel which caused the issuance of
flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases; in creating an excessive
entanglement with Mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office; and
in discussing with litigants regarding cases pending before the Supreme Court.
Status: Evidence is incomplete. Article 3.2 on "excessive entanglement with Mrs.
Arroyo through the appointment of Mrs. Corona to office" was earlier dropped and
so with Article 3.3 on Mr. Corona's discussion with litigants regarding cases
pending before the Supreme Court.
Article 4: Blatantly disregarded the principle of separation of powers by
issuing a status quo ante order against the House of Representatives in the case
concerning the impeachment of then Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez.
Status: Charge dropped. It pertains to decisions made by the Supreme Court.
Article 5: Wanton arbitrariness and partiality in consistently disregarding
the principle of res judicata in the cases involving the 16 newly-created
cities, and the promotion of Dinagat Island (sic) into a province. Status:
Sharge dropped. It pertains to decisions made by the Supreme Court.
Article 6: Arrogating unto himself, and to a committee he created, the
authority and jurisdiction to improperly investigate a justice of the Supreme
Court for the purpose of exculpating him. Such authority and jurisdiction is
properly reposed by the constitution in the House of Representatives via
impeachment. Status: Charge dropped. It pertains to decisions made by the
Supreme Court.
Article 6: Arrogating unto himself, and to a committee he created, the
authority and jurisdiction to improperly investigate a justice of the Supreme
Court for the purpose of exculpating him. Such authority and jurisdiction is
properly reposed by the constitution in the House of Representatives via
impeachment. Status: Charge dropped. It pertains to decisions made by the
Supreme Court.
Article 7: Partiality in granting a temporary restraining order (TRO) in
favor of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel
Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to
frustrate the ends of justice, and in distorting the supreme court decision on
the effectivity of the TRO in view of a clear failure to comply with the
conditions of the Supreme Court's own TRO. Status: Corona's alleged manipulation
was not proven. Justice Secretary de Lima's testimony which relied heavily on
the dissenting opinion of Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno was struck out by
the impeachment court as hearsay evidence. Only Sereno could testify on it,
which she refused to do. In any event, the testimony of Sereno runs the risk of
being contradicted by the testimonies of other justices.
Article 8: Failed and refused to account for the Judiciary Development Fund
and Special Allowance for the Judiciary collections. Status: Charge withdrawn.
The form, use and budgetary practices were long decided by the Supreme Court
even before Corona's appointment as chief justice.
Of the 23 senator-judges, 12 are not running for reelection and are therefore
less likely to be pressured to decide on the basis of factors other than the
merits of the case. Six will run for reelection in 2013 (Legarda, Escudero, Alan
Peter Cayetano, Trillanes, Honasan, and Pimentel III). Even these senators can
be expected to decide on the basis of the evidences presented. And the failure
of the prosecution to present a credible case has provided them with no
ammunition to convict Mr. Corona.
The others who have reached their term limit -- Lacson, Villar, Pangilinan,
Arroyo, and Angara -- may vote based on evidence presented, party loyalty or
support to the administration, or for the continuation of their political
dynasty, such as a son or wife running in their stead. But this is complicated
by the seeming support of the INC for against political highhandedness and
personal vendetta.
More than halfway through the impeachment trial, many commentators are saying
that it would extremely difficult to convict Mr. Corona based on the evidence
presented and recent political realities.
I think, the worst case for Corona is 14 votes for conviction and 9 votes for
acquittal. His 'best' case is 11 for conviction and 13 for acquittal. But Corona
needs only 8 votes to be acquitted.
Is there a Plan B?
Recent events have practically taken away the possibility of any Plan B. The
unnecessary build up of expectation, the sloppy presentation for the impeachment
trial, the scanty evidence to support specific charges, and the dropping of five
out of 8 charges have taken away the strong support for the impeachment of the
Mr. Corona.
A recent survey contained in the Laylo report shows that 9 of 10, or 86
percent, Filipinos will respect whatever decision the Senate impeachment court
will make in the Corona trial. Only 8 percent will join rallies if Corona is
absolved.
No wonder Malacañang wants a swift resolution of the impeachment trial. It
wants to cut its losses.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
