Arroyo lawyers slammed for defending Chief Justice Corona

Atty. Raul Lambino. INQUIRER/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines — The heat is now on the lawyers of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for defending Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona against calls for his inhibition from all cases involving Arroyo.

“Are the Arroyo lawyers also lawyering for Corona? Why the spirited defense of the Chief Justice amidst the call for his inhibition?” asked Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, a close ally of the administration.

Pangilinan specifically questioned the manner by which Arroyo’s lawyer, Raul Lambino, came to the defense of Corona when the calls for his inhibition first surfaced.

“It is highly suspect that it was he [Lambino] who first came out to publicly defend Corona as if his client’s case was in peril should Corona inhibit himself. He sounded more like the lawyer of the CJ  than that of the Arroyos,” said the senator in a text message.

“This establishes the fact that Arroyo’s lawyer does not want Corona to inhibitand we can assume it is because his client would lose one critical vote should it happen. Ang isda nahuhuli sa bibig,” he said.

“Whether true or not, the vociferous defense of the CJ put up by Lambino creates the image and perception of a CJ squarely behind the accused,” he added.

Under the canons of judicial conduct, Pangilinan said, perception of impropriety even if untrue was solid basis for inhibition by a judge.

And the appearance of Lambino “lawyering”  for Corona has harmed the image of the chief justice as an impartial judge, said the senator.

“This on top of the fact that he [Corona] was former chief of staff of GMA [Arroyo’s initials], former presidential adviser & executive secretary. All told, the ties are too obvious to ignore or disregard,” he said.

Pangilinan  then reiterated his call  for Corona to spare his office from further harm by inhibiting himself from the cases involving Arroyo.