Corona should’ve taken leave to erase ‘cloud of doubt’ on SC—prosecution

MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Renato Corona should have taken a leave of absence to save the Supreme Court from a “cloud of doubt”, the prosecution in his impeachment trial said Wednesday.

“The right time for him [to take a leave of absence] was January 16 when the matter was filed before the senate impeachment court … in order to save the Supreme Court so that there won’t be any doubt in [its] actions,” Marikina Representative Romero Quimbo said in a press briefing.

Quimbo added that he should have taken a leave of absence as early as Dec. 12, 2011, when the House of Representatives impeached Corona.

He added that decisions of the Supreme Court “will always have a cloud of doubt” because Corona is chief justice.

“If the chief justice has any love for the judiciary, which is highly respected by many individuals and composed of employees that are hard-working and deeply honest, he should have taken a leave of absence,” Quimbo said.

He said that the Chief Justice has the sole power to schedule temporary restraining order hearings and make the agenda of en banc sessions.

Quimbo said that a special en banc session was scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, to discuss how they would reply to the subpoena request against a number of associate justices of the high tribunal.