PHNO-HL: PALACE, CHIEF JUSTICE READY TO ACCEPT ANY VERDICT

PALACE, CHIEF JUSTICE READY TO ACCEPT
ANY VERDICT

MANILA, MAY
29, 2012 (STANDARD) by Rey E.
Requejo - BOTH Malacañang and Chief Justice Renato Corona said Monday they were
ready to accept whatever verdict was handed down by the Senate impeachment court
today.
"We are as ready as we will ever be for whatever verdict that is coming out,"
presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
"We respect the Senate impeachment court, so whatever their verdict is, we
will defer to the senator-judges.
"Depending on where you're sitting, it will be an upset either way. If the
defense wins, then it will be an upset for the prosecution; if the prosecution
wins, it will be an upset for the defense. So let us wait for the verdict."
Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez said Corona was ready to accept the
impeachment court's verdict, too.
"The chief justice has surrendered to God's will," Marquez said in a text
message.
Asked if the Palace was entertaining the possibility of an acquittal for the
chief magistrate, Valte replied: "Not if you look at the evidence that has been
presented."
"Based on the evidence and the admissions that have been given, it is a
strong case."
Corona has admitted not declaring at least P80 million in his bank accounts
because those were co-mingled with his family members, including those held in
trust by his wife for the Basa Guidote Enterprises.
He also admitted not declaring $2.4 million—not $10 million as alleged by
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales—in four bank accounts as those were covered by
the absolute confidentiality provision of the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.
Earlier, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Corona could not hide
behind the law in justifying the non-disclosure of his dollar accounts.
"When you declare your assets, you declare both peso and dollar deposits," he
said.
"The law does not make any distinction and when the law does not make any
distinction, we, the people, should not make any distinction also."
Civil Service Commission chairman Francisco Duque said the FCDA was supposed
to cover banks, not individuals.
"It doesn't prohibit an individual from declaring his foreign currency
accounts in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth," Duque said.

Meanwhile, the magistrates of the Supreme Court on Monday said they too would
accept the outcome of the impeachment trial.
"We'll accept the verdict. Whatever it is, we'll accept it," Associate
Justice Martin Villarama Jr. said in a chance interview.
He said he and his colleagues were ready for the effects of Corona's possible
conviction or acquittal.
"If there are adjustments to be made, we will try our best to serve the
Filipino people and the nation," Villarama said.
He said he wished the chief justice the best of luck as he faced judgment.

"I can say that he is a very good person. He's been very good to us. He's
been a good leader since I joined the court. I wish him luck," Villarama said.

Although he believed that the senator-judges would be intelligent and upright
in casting their votes today, Villarama expressed hope that they would be
objective "for the good of the Filipino people."
He said the impeachment trial had tainted the judiciary's image.
"You have to improve or regain the confidence of the people in the
judiciary," he said, adding he had been affected by the trial that had put their
institution under scrutiny.
"If the institution is under trial, partly I'm also under trial because I'm
part of it," he said.
Villarama is among the four justices who accepted the challenge by the chief
justice to public officials to also waive the secrecy of their dollar bank
accounts for the sake of accountability and transparency in public service.
Another magistrate, Associate Justice Roberto Abad, also agreed to waive the
secrecy of his dollar deposits. He said he was willing to disclose his assets
simply because he had nothing to hide.
Two other justices—Arturo Brion and Jose Perez—also said over the weekend
that they were willing to waive the secrecy of their dollar deposits in apparent
response to their chief's challenge. With Rey E. Requejo
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/May/29)



Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi

© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved





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