Enrile: No one can interfere with Senate on Corona impeachment

"No one can interfere with us."

 

This was the statement of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court decided not to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the impeachment trial and instead, asked the Senate and House of Representatives to submit a comment regarding the issue within 10 days. As Senate president, Enrile presides over the impeachment court hearing the case against Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was impeached last December over allegations of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and graft and corruption. Several petitions seeking for a TRO against the proceedings are pending before the high court. The impeachment trial is now on its fourth day.

 

In an interview with reporters, Enrile said the Senate has yet to reply to the request but stressed that "more or less" they already know what to tell the SC.

 

"My reading of the Constitution is that this is a special situation. We have the sole power to try and decide the case... meaning no one can interfere with us as long as we apply the Bill of Rights and the principle of due process," he said.

 

Enrile said there will only be questions raised if they become "tyrannical or oppressive" in making decisions during the trial. 

 

"But while we are doing the work, in our opinion, no one can interfere with us," he said. Enrile also noted that submitting a reply to the SC does not mean the high court is higher than the Senate sitting as the impeachment court.

 

"We have not abandoned the Constitution. If we ask the explanation of the SC, they have also to explain to us. In the same manner, we will have to comply with their request that we explain our position. Otherwise, we will break down the system of government that we have," he said. Senators are neutral

 

The Senate president assured the public that the senators remain neutral despite criticism that some of their colleagues were acting as lawyers for the prosecution.

 

"I don't think you can say that. [They're] only clarifying certain points, eliciting information. The impression could be that way but that's not the intention. I do not know of anyone who was trying to lawyer for either the prosecution or the defense," he said. "Let that impression be a function of the public. If they have that impression, then they can punish us," he added.

 

In particular, Enrile defended Sen. Franklin Drilon, who stood up several times in what seemed to observers as an attempt to buttress the arguments of the prosecution team.

 

"That was his position. His position is that we should not be shackled by the other departments of government," he said. Drilon's intervention during the proceedings on Wednesday eventually made SC clerk of court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal relent and submit Corona's Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth to the impeachment court. — RSJ/YA/HS, GMA News