Miriam to prosecution on 'fake' documents: 'Duty my foot'

By KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA News

Published February 14, 2012 3:33pm

Feisty Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago once again scolded the House prosecutors on Tuesday, this time for submitting copies of allegedly fake bank documents to the impeachment court.

On Monday, PSBank Katipunan branch manager Anabelle Tiongson had testified that the copies of bank documents submitted by the prosecution to the impeachment court as attachment to their subpoena request were not replicas of authentic documents from their bank.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas explained that they had already admitted that they cannot really vouch for the authenticity of the documents they obtained from an anonymous woman. Still, Fariñas said they felt it was their "duty" to submit the same to the Senate.

This, however, did not sit well with Santiago.

"Duty my foot. It is not your duty, it is your liability. It is a disgrace to the judicial system," she said at the resumption of the trial. Subponea vs arrest warrant

Santiago was initially irked because senators and members of the defense and prosecution panels were discussing the difference between a subpoena and a search warrant.

"This court has not issued [a warrant]. The issue should be what are the effects of the subpoena. The issue is, can counsel in any proceeding attach a document about [which] he knows nothing," she said.

"Why are you doing this to the court? Kung anu-ano mga sinasabi ninyo," she added.

It was Sen. Gregorio Honasan who floated the question about the difference between a warrant and a subpoena.

And even before Sen. Santiago stood up, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had already asked the two camps to clarify the issue through their respective memoranda.

"The mind of this presiding officer [is] to request both parties to submit a...memorandum [on] this specific issue not only for the information of the public but for the guidance of this court as well," said Enrile.

Not a basis

At the same time, Santiago explained that such documents cannot be made basis for the issuance of a subpoena.

"Can you allege something in open court or even in written pleading in a court, based on anonymous source? If you bring this before any court in Metro Manila, you will be cited for contempt," she said.

Santiago added that the burden of proving the authenticity of the documents should not be given to the court because lawyers should be made responsible for their submissions.

"It is the duty of the lawyer who is introducing it," she said, adding that lawyers who knowingly submit fake or spurious documents to the court can be disbarred.

Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali earlier claimed before the Senate impeachment court that a "small lady" handed him Corona's supposed PSBank records, which showed the chief magistrate having $700,000 in deposits. He said the incident happened outside the Senate premises. Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III, however, said that a review of the Senate CCTV footage showed no "small lady."

Santiago, meanwhile, also asked about the rule of the media in the impeachment process.

"While the case is pending in court there is a gag rule. No person may orally or by any means comment on the merits of the case. Even we are not allowed to do that. Pababayaan na lang ba sila? I think we shoud think very carefully," she said. — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: miriamdefensorsantiago, coronaimpeachment,