No impeach Corona talks within LP – spokesperson

Congressmen from the ruling Liberal Party (LP) have no plans to initiate impeachment moves against Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was recently criticized by President Benigno Aquino III for his supposed impartiality.

 

On Tuesday, Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo, LP deputy spokesperson, said talks on impeaching Corona within the administration party are still “premature.”

 

“Walang nagpa-file sa atin ng kaso. Wala pa naming naghahain. Hindi natin masasabing merong grounds for impeachment. Hindi rin natin masasabing wala,” Quimbo told reporters at a press conference.

 

He added that while Aquino, who chairs the LP, has a rift with Corona, the decision whether or not to impeach the chief justice will still come from House members from the party.

 

“We belong to the same party, but we will never be dictated upon when it comes to impeachment. We will decide on our own on the basis of our constitutional mandate,” he said.

 

PNoy vs Corona

 

On Monday, Aquino openly criticized the SC in front of Corona in his keynote speech during the first National Criminal Justice Summit — an event organized by the high court.

 

The President also questioned the impartiality of the chief justice, who was appointed by his predecessor, former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

 

It was the first time the two personalities were at a single event since the clash of the executive and judicial branches on the watch list order on Mrs. Arroyo, who is currently on hospital arrest in Taguig City for electoral sabotage charges.

 

This occasion, however, was not the first time the chief executive locked horns with the chief justice. Aquino had criticized Corona for his supposed midnight appointment and for striking down the Truth Commission, which was supposed to investigate anomalies during Mrs. Arroyo’s term

 

Better relations

 

Another administration congressman, Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr., meanwhile said that impeaching Corona will not serve the ongoing rift between the two top officials of government.

 

“Maaari nating gawin, ngunit napaka-drastic move ng impeachment,” Baguilat said during the same press briefing.

 

He added that the legislative branch can help in fostering “better relations” between the executive and the judiciary.

 

“Kung kinakailangan man, ang legislative ang isang sangay ng pamahalaan na maaaring magpa-meeting doon sa dalawang branches. Huwag natin isipin sa ngayon na ang SC ang kontrabida roon sa ating good governance campaign,” he said.

 

But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has already rejected moves for Congress to mediate in the conflict between Corona and Aquino, saying the legislature should be independent from the two other branches of government.  "I would not attempt to talk to the President and the CJ to stop what they're doing... in the same manner that I think they will not tell me to stop what I'm doing. That's the essence of the three branches of government," Enrile told reporters in an interview on Monday. — RSJ, GMA News