Senate receives Articles of Impeachment vs CJ Corona

(Updated 11:44 a.m.) The Senate on Tuesday morning received the Articles of Impeachment against Justice Renato Corona.

 

At past 10 a.m., Senate secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes received the Articles of Impeachment from  Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rey Umali. Tupas said they gave 31 copies of the document to the Senate secretary.

 

"The secretary of the Senate has officially received a copy of the articles of impeachment and as far as the House of Representatives is concerned, this morning we have completed the process of physically transmitting the articles to the Senate of the Philippines. It is now up to the Senate to conduct the trial of the impeachment of Renato Corona, chief justice of the SC," Tupas told reporters.

 

In a separate interview, Reyes said she will still have to consult the Senate leadership on what to do with the Articles of Impeachment.

 

"We will be drafting the calendar for ordinary business, the agenda for the day, and we will recommend its referral to the committee on rules because the committee on rules decides as to the matter of transacting business in the Senate," she said.

 

"I'm sure the senators will discuss the matter as to the date and time of the constitution of the impeachment court," she added.

 

Reyes said the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, is the only one who can issue summons to the person being impeached. She likewise said that the person being impeached  will be given 10 days to answer the complaint.

 

House decision

 

On Monday. the House of Representatives impeached Corona for alleged graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, and betrayal of public trust.

 

[A timeline of how Corona was impeached can be viewed here.] 

 

Tupas noted, however, that there was no haste in the filing of the impeachment complaint.  He explained that they were just following procedures when they immediately transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate after they obtained 188 signatures, which is two-thirds of their entire composition.

 

He likewise said that there was no instruction from the Palace to do anything.

 

"In fact when we told the President that the House has decided to impeach the chief justice, he said that is your prerogative. Ako [Aquino], susuporta lang ako," he said.

 

Umali, for his part, belied claims that the administration had used the withholding of the congressmen's pork barrel as leverage to get signatures.

 

"Disyembre na ngayon, wala na ang PDAF, napamigay na yun... walang katotohanan yun," he said in a separate interview.

 

Tupas, chairman of the House committee on justice, said they are still in the process of collating the evidence against Corona. He likewise said they have several witnesses ready to testify against the chief justice.

 

"We expect a tough trial in the Senate [but] we are confident of getting a conviction in the Senate because we are confident that we have a very, very strong case," he said.

 

He also said that have yet to decide who the prosecutors will be.

 

But he said that he has six people he would like to recommend, namely: Umali, and Rep. Arlene, Bagao, Rep. Erin Tanada, Rep. Neri Colmenares, and Rep. Jun Abaya.

 

Tupas said they expect the trial to last around six months. — RSJ, GMA News