Corona loss may be Del Castillo’s gain

Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo

What is bad luck to Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona can be good fortune for Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo.

Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Fariñas on Tuesday said he would move to drop the impeachment case for plagiarism against Del Castillo because Congress could not possibly handle two impeachment cases at the same time.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday transmitted to the Senate its impeachment case against Corona after 188 legislators signed the 57-page complaint—in less than an hour, according to House leaders.

Del Castillo has been given until next week to respond after the House justice committee found the complaint against him sufficient in substance nearly a year after it was filed by 11 members of the House for betrayal of public trust.

He is accused of plagiarizing parts of his decision denying recourse to Filipino women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

“I will suggest to the House leadership to let him go with a stern warning, reprimand or censure. I do not think the House could handle the prosecution of the Chief Justice and the investigation of an associate justice of the SC. More so, a probable prosecution  in a separate case of Justice Del Castillo. They will mess up the legislative calendar,” Fariñas said in an interview.

The vice chair of the House justice committee said that he had conveyed his suggestion to the House leadership. “Majority Leader (Neptali) Boyet Gonzales agrees with me,” Fariñas said.

Del Castillo’s impeachment case has moved at glacier pace. It was deemed sufficient in form and substance just 10 days before the 60-session day deadline to complete the process.

This was attributed mainly to his fraternity brothers, Aquila Legis of Ateneo Law School, in the House, who have been working on the sidelines to delay the process.

In contrast, the filing of the complaint against Corona and its formal approval happened in less than five hours.

Fariñas did not say how soon the House would issue an order discontinuing the impeachment case.

Originally posted: 12:20 pm | Tuesday, December 13th, 2011