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The defense panel on Tuesday moved to quash the subpoena for the executives of the Philippine Airlines (PAL), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) to the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

 

In separate requests, the defense team asked the Senate, sitting as the impeachment court, to quash the subpoena for the managers of BPI Ayala branch and PSBank Katipunan branch and PAL vice president for sales Enrique Javier and PAL vice president for marketing Ria Carrion Domingo.

 

They likewise asked to quash the subpoena for the Corona's bank documents from BPI and PSBank and several PAL documents related to Corona's travels.

 

The defense team explained that the subpoena for the bank documents and executives is an "abitrary expansion and blatant circumvention" of the impeachment court's resolution that a "general inquistorial examination" of all books, papers, and documents shall not be enforced.

 

"The attempt to resort to the compulsroy process of subpoena to introduce these documents and related testimony in an attempt to possibly uncover more definite leads to evidence is a fishing expedition for evidence that is obviously irrelevant and immaterial," it said.

 

It likewise said that subpoena is "unreasonable and oppressive" because it did not specify the specific accounts to be produced.

 

It added that the subpoena is meant to prove paragraph 2.4 of the impeachment complaint, which had already been disallowed by the Senate.

 

Paragraph 2.4 of the Articles of Impeachment states that "Respondent is likewise suspected and accused of having accumulated ill-gotten wealth, acquiring assets of high values and keeping bank accounts with huge deposits. It has been reported that Respondent has, among others, a 300-sq. meter apartment in a posh Megaworld Property development at the Fort in Taguig. Has he reported this, as he is constitutionally-required under Art. XI, Sec. 17 of the Constitution in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN)? Is this acquisition sustained and duly supported by his income as a public official? Since his assumption as Associate and subsequently, Chief Justice, has he complied with this duty of public disclosure?"

 

On the other hand, the defense team explained that the testimony of PAL executives about the alleged benefits that Corona and his wife received from the airline is not related to Article III of the impeachment complaint, for which the airline officials are being summoned.

 

Article III accuses Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for his “failure to meet and observe the stringent standards of the Constitution 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."

 

"There is no allegation in the complaint regarding any benefits that CJ Corona obtained from PAL in connection with the FASAP case. To permit or sanction the introduction of the information subject of the requested subpoena will violate the constitutional right of CJ Corona to be informed of the accusation against him and is tantamount to requiring him to defend himself against a new accusation altogether," said the defense team.

 

"It is clear that the request is nothing but another attempt to adduce irrelevant and immaterial evidence in this proceedings in the continuing efforts of the complainants to fish for evidence and in violation of the constitutional right to due process, in a desperate scramble to chance upon some information that may be linked to any violation of law or ethics. Surely, this honorable court will not permit such travesty," it added. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News