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Corona impeachment trial: The first 7 days

January 31, 2012 1:28pm
On the preliminary hearing and verification
  • The defense team’s request for a preliminary hearing was junked for lack of merit.
  • The argument of the defense that the impeachment complaint was “fatally defective” because the House of Representatives allegedly did not follow its own procedures on verification of complaints was also rejected.
 
On Corona’s constitutional rights
  • The House prosecutors’ request to subpoena Chief Justice Renato Corona was denied because, as the impeached official on trial, he cannot be compelled under the Constitution to be a witness against himself.
  • The prosecution request to subpoena Corona’s wife, his daughters, and his son-in-law was also denied because they cannot be compelled to testify against him under the Rules of Court on spousal, parental and filial privilege.
  • Senator-judge Gregorio Honasan put on record that Corona still enjoys the presumption of innocence under the Constitution during his impeachment trial.
 
On the conduct of the trial
  • The House panel was allowed to prosecute out of sequence the articles of impeachment, initially as follows: first, Article II on Corona’s statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs); second, Article I on Corona’s alleged partiality and subservience in cases involving former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; and third, Article VII on alleged irregularities in granting a temporary restraining order in favor of Arroyo last November.
  • The Senate decided to deliberate in a closed-door caucus whether the standard of proof in impeachment cases is mere “substantial evidence” as required in administrative proceedings, a “preponderance of evidence” as mandated in most civil cases, or “proof beyond reasonable doubt” as necessitated in criminal cases.
  • Presiding officer and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile warned the prosecution and defense panels that the buckshot approach in requesting for the issuance of subpoenas to produce “all pertinent records” was fishing for evidence and was not proper.
 
On Corona’s SALNs and ITRs
  • The Senate compelled SC Clerk of Court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal to turn over Corona’s subpoenaed SALNs and did not allow her to seek prior approval from the Supreme Court as required under a 1989 SC en banc resolution restricting the release of SC justices’ SALNs to the public.
  • Witnesses from Malacañang turned over the SALNs Corona had submitted from 1992, when he first served as legal adviser to then Vice President Arroyo, up to 2002 when he was named Presidential Legal Counsel prior to his appointment as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court.
  • Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Jacinto Henares, after getting the requisite approval of President Benigno Aquino III, turned over the “alpha list” submitted by the Supreme Court containing entries of Corona’s income taxes.

On Corona family’s properties and ITRs
  • The Registers of Deeds of Taguig, Marikina, and Quezon cities provided copies of several land titles and certificates of ownership of condominium units and lots registered under the names of Corona, his wife, and their daughters.
  • BIR Commissioner Henares also turned over the subpoenaed ITRs of Corona’s wife and daughters.
  • The ITRs, SALNs, and titles were marked in preparation for possible formal offer of evidence to prove or disprove the allegations against Corona.
 
On the allegation of ill-gotten wealth
  • Senator-judges Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Escudero noted that Article II was confusing because it accuses Corona of three things: that the chief justice failed to file his SALNs, that he did not include all his assets in his SALNs, and that he amassed ill-gotten wealth.
  • Enrile said the senator-judges had decided in caucus that the impeachment court would allow the introduction of evidence on Article II paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 on SALNs, but not the introduction of evidence for paragraph 2.4 on alleged ill-gotten wealth.
  • However, Senator-judge Franklin Drilon interjected that there was no definite ruling on Article II paragraph 2.4, and that evidence on ill-gotten wealth would be “merely subject to admissibility.”
  • Senator-judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago pointed out to the House prosecutors that the pertinent provision in the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act was the presumption of unexplained wealth, which was related to the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees on the faithful submission of SALNs.
 
On the ‘trial outside the courtroom’
  • Senator-judge Joker Arroyo expressed alarm that documents marked but not yet admitted as evidence in the case, such as the income tax returns (ITRs) of Corona, had already been released to media.
  • Senator-judge Pia Cayetano noted that Corona’s marked ITRs had been repeatedly shown on television and the Internet, and this may mislead the public into thinking the documents have been accepted as evidence in the trial.
  • Arroyo said the speed of the issuance of the presidential authorization to release the ITRs of Corona and his relatives, the impeachment trial, and a parallel BIR investigation represented a “very potent” combination against the accused.  
  • Honasan lamented that the “trial outside the courtroom” was proceeding faster than the trial inside the Senate session hall. He asked that all spokespersons be advised “to moderate their statements.”
  • The presiding officer requested the spokespersons of both camps not to discuss the evidence and merits of the case outside the impeachment court. Enrile said “they may discuss the procedure but not the content.”
  • However, Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano clarified that the sub judice rule – which prohibits senator-judges, the prosecution, and the defense panel from discussing the merits of the case – must be differentiated from a “gag order” as often reported in the media.
 
— Marlon Anthony Tonson/YA, GMA News
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