Senator Alan Cayetano: Ignore surveys

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano has dismissed the importance of surveys in the outcome of the Corona impeachment trial.

“The surveys have nothing to do with the process for strengthening our democracy, for the strengthening of our institutions. And even if they did, we have to ignore (them) and (remain faithful) to the principles of impartiality,” Cayetano told Senate reporters.

“Sure, there are surveys now. But the survey has to do with the results (of the impeachment trial),” he said.

Rating drops

In the Social Weather Stations survey for the last quarter of 2011, Chief Justice Renato Corona’s net satisfaction rating plunged to minus 14, meaning 21 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with his performance against 35 percent who said they were not.

Cayetano also criticized the House prosecutors who persist in presenting their supposed evidence against Corona before the media instead of waiting for the actual trial to start.

Several senators earlier castigated Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. and members of the House prosecution panel for giving a press conference in which they disclosed Corona’s alleged ownership of a luxury condominium unit worth P14.5 million. They said it was just one of several premium properties that the chief magistrate allegedly owns.

Tupas and company have promised to respect the Senate rule against discussing the merits of the impeachment case in public. But they have apparently resorted to leaking information on the impeachment case through anonymous sources.

“For me, it’s simple. If you want to be a prosecutor, don’t talk outside the impeachment court. If you want to talk, then don’t be a prosecutor. You can be a spokesman or an individual advocate instead,” Cayetano said.

Malacañang on Saturday said it was not covered by the senator-judges’ ban against disclosing evidence against Corona ahead of the impeachment trial.

Trillanes’ sole criterion

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said he would rely on “political acceptability” in deciding Corona’s fate.

Trillanes said the impeachment trial was a political one, and “my verdict should not be based solely on evidence as it now becomes a matter of public policy.”

“The overarching policy issue in this whole impeachment episode is, whether the conviction or acquittal of Chief Justice Renato Corona would be good for our country,” he told a recent University of the Philippines forum.

“To resolve this, I intend to use political acceptability as the sole criterion to evaluate the projected outcomes of either policy alternative of conviction or acquittal,” he said.

Trillanes said he would tap “policy research tools such as quantitative and qualitative researches and stakeholder analysis … along with extensive consultations.”

He said this approach would help him determine what decision would be “politically acceptable.”

“(The strategy) could very well filter the noise of the mob and undue media influence from the true will of the people,” he said.