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Day 16: Highlights of Corona impeachment trial at the Senate


Defense lawyers asked to explain alleged bribery try  
  • The senator-judges castigated members of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona's defense panel and demanded an explanation to the latter’s allegations that Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. had offered P100 million for each senator-judge to vote against the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) on Corona’s dollar accounts.
  • Defense lawyer Jose Roy apologized to the senator-judges and said there was no malice in their statements.
  • Senator Jinggoy Estrada dared the defense camp to reveal the source of their information on the alleged bribery attempt but Roy declined to do so, citing lawyer-client confidentiality.
  • Senator Antonio Trillanes IV asked the defense camp to file within the week an explanation why its members should not be cited in contempt for making the allegations.
  Senator-judges vote 13-10 to uphold TRO on Corona dollar accounts  
  • During a caucus before the trial, the senator-judges voted 13-10 to abide by the Supreme Court’s order prohibiting the impeachment court from examining the dollar accounts of Corona. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the presiding officer, announced the decision at the resumption of the trial.
  • Nonetheless, Enrile said the Senate "reserves the right" to "vigorously defend" before the high tribunal the issuance of the subpoenas for the foreign bank deposit accounts.
  • Those who voted to respect the high court's TRO were Enrile along with Senator-judges Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Manuel Villar, Ralph Recto, Francis Escudero, Koko Pimentel, Loren Legarda, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Ferdinand Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada, and Vicente Sotto III. Explaining their votes, Legarda and Santiago said the impeachment court is not authorized to violate the law, specifically the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, while Estrada expressed concern about a possible constitutional crisis between the executive and judiciary if the impeachment court clashes with the high court.
  • Those who voted to defy the order were Senators Franklin Drilon, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Sergio Osmena III, Edgardo Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes IV, Lito Lapid, and Teofisto Guingona III. Cayetano and Guingona reasoned out that the majority decision will pose an impediment to their duty as an impeachment court and deny access to the truth.   
Miriam gives Tupas a grade of 3  
  • Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago lectured lead prosecutor Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. and gave him a barely passing grade of 3 for allegedly citing “irrelevant” cases in the impeachment complaint.
  • When asked what would constitute betrayal of public trust, Tupas cited Corona's bank deposits worth P31 million as against the amount of P3.5 million in the magistrate's Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth for 2010 as an example.
  • Santiago raised the specter of a bank run when bank officials are forced to testify about the deposits of individuals, similar to what happened during the impeachment trial against former President Joseph Estrada in 2001. But Tupas said only the accounts of Corona are under scrutiny in the name of public accountability and transparency.
  “Fake” PSBank documents from “small lady”  
  • PSBank-Katipunan branch manager Anabelle Tiongson testified that the supposed bank records of Corona showing $700,000 in deposits, which the prosecution team submitted to the impeachment court, were fake and did not come from the bank. The documents had been attached to the prosecution’s request to subpoena Corona’s bank records.
  • Tiongson said specimen signature cards from clients are kept inside a steel cabinet, which is secured inside a vault. She said she could not access these records without the consent of two people, Emelyn Dizon and Almond Raquiza, who act as primary custodians for the signature specimens. Similar documents are available in the bank's main office, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also saw the records during an audit last year, she said.
  • Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III said a report from the Senate sergeant-at-arms regarding closed circuit television recordings did not show any “small lady” handing over the records to Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, who had narrated how he got hold of the envelope with the bank records at the Senate building last week.
  • Enrile gave the prosecution team 24 hours to explain how it obtained the records on Corona’s bank accounts.
  - with reports from Kimberly Jane Tan, Andreo Calonzo, and Rouchelle Dinglasan/YA, GMA News
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