Metro, city judges slam prosecution panel in Corona impeachment case

MANILA, Philippines—Metropolitan and City Judges on Friday denounced the House prosecution panel for making public documentary evidence in the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona saying “it was an apparent resort to trial by publicity.”

In a statement, the Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines (MetCJAP) making public the detail about an apartment in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City that was bought by Corona “could undermine the independence of the impeachment court.”

“Making public the chief justice’s alleged acquired properties ahead of the scheduled pre-trial and/or trial before the Senate is certainly foul,” MetCJAP president and Cagayan de Oro City Judge Cesar Merlas said.

After consulting with their members all over the country, Merlas said they would call on the senators to take the necessary action against the prosecution team led by Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr.

Aside from the the BGC apartment, also made public were other properties purportedly owned by Corona such as the house in the posh La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City, another house in Loyola Heights in Quezon City, a condominium in Makati City and another one in Bonifacio Ridge in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

“The prosecutors should come to the impeachment court with clean hands,” the MetCJAP appealed.

Merlas said they vowed to closely monitor the impeachment trial in the Senate.

Earlier, Corona’s lead counsel retired Supreme Court Justice Serafin Cuevas lamented on the moves by the House prosecution panel but said they would no longer push that they be cited for contempt.

“The reminder from the senator – judges on the impeachment rules prohibiting discussion of merits of the case in the public would suffice,” Cuevas said.