Day 17: Highlights of Corona impeachment trial at the Senate

  Supreme Court cannot assume jurisdiction over impeachment trial  

• At the start of the day’s trial, Senate President and Presiding Officer Juan Ponce Enrile asserted that the Senate has the sole power to try and decide the impeachment case against Chief Justice Renato Corona, and that the Supreme Court cannot assume jurisdiction over the trial.
• Enrile’s statement was a reaction to Corona’s petition before the high court to stop the trial, citing several alleged violations of his rights, including the confidentiality of his bank accounts.
• Enrile also assumed full responsibility for issuing a subpoena on Corona’s bank records based on documents presented by the prosecution, which a witness has described as “fake,” and said he was prepared to face the consequences of his actions.

• Sen. Gregorio Honasan raised a question on the difference between a warrant and a subpoena. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile asked the two camps to clarify the issue through their respective memoranda.
• Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that spurious documents cannot be made the basis for the issuance of a subpoena, and it is the duty of the lawyer making the submission to prove its authenticity before the court.
• Santiago scolded the House prosecutors for submitting copies of allegedly fake bank documents to the impeachment court, describing the records as a “liability” for the prosecution and “a disgrace to the judicial system.”
• House prosecutor Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas replied that while they cannot vouch for the authenticity of the PSBank records allegedly showing the $700,000 deposits of Corona which they obtained from an anonymous woman, the prosecution panel felt it was their “duty” to submit them to the Senate
• She said the prosecutors may be sanctioned if the Senate impeachment court proves that spurious records were attached to the subpoena request.

• Lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. informed the Senate impeachment court that the prosecution team will no longer call Camp John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) corporate secretary Marissa Bondoc as a witness because she has resigned from her post.
• Bondoc was supposed to testify on the appointment of Corona’s wife, Cristina, as a member of the JHMC board of directors in relation to Article III of the impeachment complaint. The prosecution had accused Corona of compromising his independence when he allowed his wife to accept the appointment made by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
• Enrile granted the prosecution’s motion.

• Lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas raised concerns about senator-judges who are “practically appearing to us as private prosecutors.”
• Cuevas was reacting to the recall of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Ayala branch manager Leonora Dizon to the witness stand and subsequent questioning by Sen. Franklin Drilon, who started inquiring about the monthly transactions of Corona's BPI account. Cuevas found the questions “very irregular” and argued that there was no request, formal manifestation, or motion for Dizon's recall.
• Presiding officer Enrile said it is the prerogative of senator-judges to recall a witness to the stand.
• The prosecution said the defense team had earlier agreed to jointly check Corona's bank records with the prosecution, but Cuevas said they later withdrew their position on the matter.

• A little past 4 p.m. lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas requested for an early adjournment of the trial so that all the parties can celebrate Valentine's Day and also the 88th birthday of Enrile, the presiding officer.
• Lead public prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. joined in, as well as Senator Francis Pangilinan who said Enrile deserved the break. Enrile thanked everyone for their greetings.
• The trial will resume at 2 p.m. Wednesday, February 15.