Enrile dares prosecutors to oust him from Corona trial
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday dared the prosecutors to ask for his exclusion in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona in the Senate if they are not satisfied with the way he is handling the proceedings.
"If they feel offended, then say so. Then they can ask for my exclusion," Enrile told reporters a day after he barred two prosecution witnesses from testifying in the Senate proceedings, saying their testimonies would be irrelevant to the case.
"I will gladly give it to them. I will gladly give it to somebody that will handle it. I don't want to be controlled by them. I'm not controlling them. I don't want them to control the way I preside," added Enrile, the presiding officer in the impeachment trial.
In a separate interview, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the public prosecutors still deserve some respect during the trial.
“We agree to disagree, pero we have to maintain some modicum of respect. ‘Yan lang an gaming panawagan… Para na kaming hindi mga congressman nito,” he said.
He added that the Senate should have junked the impeachment complaint the House filed against Corona if the senator-judges think it is defective.
“Kung may pananaw sila na defective, eh ‘di nagmoro-moro lang pala tayo rito… Baka in the future, kahit na mayroon na kaming ebidensya, ang House mawalan na rin ng loob na iimpose ang accountability provided in the Constitution simply because ganito kahigpit ang nangyayari sa Senate,” Gonzales said.
No less than House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he was “really hurt” with the way the Senate treated the prosecution team after it decided to reject two witnesses in the impeachment trial.
Belmonte said he specifically feels bad about the way senator-judges have been addressing his colleagues from the House.
“We are really hurt by the type of language used on our prosecutors, pero we will still pursue the case. We’re not going to make a big thing out of it knowing the situation is, sila [the senators] ang huwes,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Enrile: What parliamentary courtesy?
But Enrile was steadfast as he nixed calls for the Senate to extend parliamentary courtesy to House prosecutors during the trial.
"What parliamentary courtesy? We are in a trial. They're here as trial lawyers. We're not acting as a Senate at the moment. We're acting as an impeachment court and they are prosecutors of the House of Representatives," he said.
"They're not here as barberos or barbers. They're here as lawyers and I respect them as lawyers but they must show me as presiding officer that they know what they are doing," he added.
Enrile also explained his decision to prevent Philippine Airlines vice president for sales Enrique Javier from testifying in the trial, saying it is "unfair" to add a charge to the Articles of Impeachment at this point in the proceedings.
Javier was supposed to testify on the alleged benefits received by Corona from PAL while the company had pending cases with the Supreme Court.
"He [Corona] was not able to answer that in his answer,” Enrile said. “How can he answer that did not exist in the pleading? We are trying a person to deprive him of his honor and dignity for a lifetime, demonize him, and totally destroy his life. Are they [prosecutors] taking this lightly?"
The Senate president likewise said that he does not know of any senator who disagrees with his ruling not to allow the presentation of the PAL witness.
"I do not know of any...they could have disowned me if they wanted to. They could have objected and we could have divided the House. But I think they realized too the fairness demanded that I have to issue that ruling," Enrile said.
Senators support Enrile
Senators, however, did not object to Enrile's ruling on Tuesday. Specifically, Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senator Edgardo Angara even voiced support to Enrile's move.
"They are forgetting that in the impeachment court we are not senators. We are wearing a different hat. We are the impeachment court, nakakalimutan nila ‘yun," Sotto said.
"We must do our respective roles properly and correctly. Tama si President Enrile, the people are expecting the highest standards of performance," said Angara in a separate interview. - KBK, GMA News
"If they feel offended, then say so. Then they can ask for my exclusion," Enrile told reporters a day after he barred two prosecution witnesses from testifying in the Senate proceedings, saying their testimonies would be irrelevant to the case.
"I will gladly give it to them. I will gladly give it to somebody that will handle it. I don't want to be controlled by them. I'm not controlling them. I don't want them to control the way I preside," added Enrile, the presiding officer in the impeachment trial.
In a separate interview, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the public prosecutors still deserve some respect during the trial.
“We agree to disagree, pero we have to maintain some modicum of respect. ‘Yan lang an gaming panawagan… Para na kaming hindi mga congressman nito,” he said.
He added that the Senate should have junked the impeachment complaint the House filed against Corona if the senator-judges think it is defective.
“Kung may pananaw sila na defective, eh ‘di nagmoro-moro lang pala tayo rito… Baka in the future, kahit na mayroon na kaming ebidensya, ang House mawalan na rin ng loob na iimpose ang accountability provided in the Constitution simply because ganito kahigpit ang nangyayari sa Senate,” Gonzales said.
No less than House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he was “really hurt” with the way the Senate treated the prosecution team after it decided to reject two witnesses in the impeachment trial.
Belmonte said he specifically feels bad about the way senator-judges have been addressing his colleagues from the House.
“We are really hurt by the type of language used on our prosecutors, pero we will still pursue the case. We’re not going to make a big thing out of it knowing the situation is, sila [the senators] ang huwes,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Enrile: What parliamentary courtesy?
But Enrile was steadfast as he nixed calls for the Senate to extend parliamentary courtesy to House prosecutors during the trial.
"What parliamentary courtesy? We are in a trial. They're here as trial lawyers. We're not acting as a Senate at the moment. We're acting as an impeachment court and they are prosecutors of the House of Representatives," he said.
"They're not here as barberos or barbers. They're here as lawyers and I respect them as lawyers but they must show me as presiding officer that they know what they are doing," he added.
Enrile also explained his decision to prevent Philippine Airlines vice president for sales Enrique Javier from testifying in the trial, saying it is "unfair" to add a charge to the Articles of Impeachment at this point in the proceedings.
Javier was supposed to testify on the alleged benefits received by Corona from PAL while the company had pending cases with the Supreme Court.
"He [Corona] was not able to answer that in his answer,” Enrile said. “How can he answer that did not exist in the pleading? We are trying a person to deprive him of his honor and dignity for a lifetime, demonize him, and totally destroy his life. Are they [prosecutors] taking this lightly?"
The Senate president likewise said that he does not know of any senator who disagrees with his ruling not to allow the presentation of the PAL witness.
"I do not know of any...they could have disowned me if they wanted to. They could have objected and we could have divided the House. But I think they realized too the fairness demanded that I have to issue that ruling," Enrile said.
Senators support Enrile
Senators, however, did not object to Enrile's ruling on Tuesday. Specifically, Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senator Edgardo Angara even voiced support to Enrile's move.
"They are forgetting that in the impeachment court we are not senators. We are wearing a different hat. We are the impeachment court, nakakalimutan nila ‘yun," Sotto said.
"We must do our respective roles properly and correctly. Tama si President Enrile, the people are expecting the highest standards of performance," said Angara in a separate interview. - KBK, GMA News
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