Palace not keen on calling for Corona's resignation

Malacañang would rather wait for the result of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona at the Senate than call for his resignation. “We have already impeached the Chief Justice. If we would ask for resignation, they might say we are too presumptuous and arrogant,” said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda at a press briefing on Thursday. “So we would leave it with the Senate impeachment court to decide on the fate of Chief Justice Corona,” he added. The Senate is set to convene as an impeachment court on Jan. 16. A total of 188 lawmakers signed the impeachment complaint against Corona, who was impeached last month on the following grounds:

• partiality and subservience in cases involving the Arroyo administration;
• failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN);
• issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases;
• issuance of the “status quo ante” order against the House of Representatives in the case concerning the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez;
• decision in favor of gerrymandering in the cases involving 16 newly-created cities, and the promotion of Dinagat Island into a province;
• improper creation of the SC ethics committee
• granting temporary restraining order in favor of former President Arroyo; and
• failure and refusal to account for the Judicial Development Fund (JDF) and special allowance for the judiciary collections.

Lacierda, however, said they “would certainly welcome” it if Corona would voluntarily resign like Merceditas Gutierrez, who quit her post as Ombudsman days before she was about to face an impeachment trial at the Senate in May last year. Both Gutierrez and Corona were widely associated with former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, herself facing charges of electoral sabotage for the alleged irregularities in the 2007 elections. Meanwhile, Lacierda said he sees nothing wrong with the House prosecutors’ decision to make public some of the evidence against Corona before they can present it to the Senate. Several senators have chided the prosecutors for that, saying it violates the Rules of Impeachment. “It is up to the House prosecutors to see fit when they will show it to the public when they want to do it if they choose to do so, if they choose not to do so. It’s up to them. We cannot dictate upon the House prosecutors what their intentions are,” said Lacierda, a lawyer. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News