Corona's prospective defense counsel backs out due to conflict of interest

By MARK MERUEÑAS, GMA News

Published January 11, 2012 10:40am

Former Court of Appeals Justice Hector Hofileña, one of the supposed members of Chief Justice Renato Corona's legal team, said he has decided to distance himself from the impeachment trial because of conflict of interest.

Hofileña told GMA News Online that he really wanted to become a defense counsel for Corona, who will be facing an impeachment court next week on charges of betrayal of public trust, corruption, and supposed bias for former Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who appointed him in May 2010.

In a text message on Tuesday night, Hofileña, who served as an appeals court magistrate from 1994 to 1999, said "I am still interested in becoming part of the team but I am prevented by a conflict of interest situation." Hofileña said it would be better for him to no longer become part of Corona's team "due to the fact that a lawyer son of mine is with the law firm of one of the private prosecutors." He did not identify his son or the law firm for which he works.

Apart from being a board member of the San Miguel Corp, Hofileña is also the vice chairman of the Supreme Court Judicial Academy's Department of Judicial Ethics.

On Tuesday, SC spokesman and court administrator Jose Midas Marquez belied reports that Hofileña, along with another prospective Corona legal team member Eduardo de los Angeles, had resigned as a member of the Corona defense team.

Marquez said De los Angeles was "still very much a member of the team... and attends the defense team's meetings regularly."

As for Hofileña, the court spokesman said the former Appeals court justice could not be considered to have resigned because he never officially became part of the defense team.

"At first, [Hofilena] expressed he was volunteering to be part of the defense panel but he never showed up in any meetings," Marquez said.

"So therefore, there was no opportunity to accept his offer to be part of defense team. So tehcnically, he never became part of the team," he added.

Impeachment prosecution team

The 11-man House prosecution team is chaired by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, chairman of the House committee on justice. The prosecution includes members like Cavite Rep. Joseph Abaya as the prosecution team's manager, and one lead prosecutor for each of the eight Articles of Impeachment, including House deputy speaker Rep. Raul Daza (Northern Samar, 1st District), Rep. Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao (Akbayan party-list), Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, Jr. (Cavite, 2nd District), and Rep. Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna party-list) among others.

The clarification came with the news that Corona was adding three members to his team who would likewise be serving as official defense spokesperson, along with lead defense counsel former SC justice Serafin Cuevas. The three new members are:

Ramon Esguerra — former Justice undersecretary, a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and heads his own law office;

Tranquil Salvador III — former law dean at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay and currently teaches at the respective law schools of the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University. He is also a former president of the Quezon City chapter of the IBP;

Karen Jimeno — from the UP and earned a masters degree in law from Harvard University, and has recently resigned from the Quisumbing, Torres, Evangelista Law Offices.

Apart from Cuevas, the other confirmed members of the defense team are Jose Roy III, Jacinto Jimenez, German Lichauco II, and Dennis Manalo.

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr on Tuesday informed the Senate, which earlier convened as impeachment court for Corona's trial, that he was resigning from Corona's legal team.

Francisco was a prosecution lawyer in the impeachment case of deposed President Joseph Estrada. He was also nominated for the post vacated by former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrezz last year. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: renatocorona, impeachment