Corona verdict not solely evidence-based, says Trillanes

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV insists that the verdict in Chief Justice Renato Corona’s trial should not be based solely on evidence but also on “what would be best for the country.”

“If an impeachment trial were meant to be solely evidence-based, then why didn’t our constitutional framers just give that power to the Supreme Court whose members are supposed to be experienced judges?” said Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant who was imprisoned for seven years for rebellion.

“The overarching policy issue in this … episode is whether the conviction or acquittal of … Corona would be good for our country. To resolve this, I intend to use political acceptability as the sole criterion to evaluate the projected outcomes of either (decision),” he said.

“My verdict should not be based solely on evidence as it now becomes a matter of public policy,” he said in a speech at a forum hosted by the University of the Philippines’ National College of Public Administration and Governance.

“There is not a single book or reference I encountered that says that impeachment is a judicial trial solely based on evidence. To the contrary, all of these references defined or referred to impeachment as a political process.”

Sen. Gregorio Honasan warned against the possibility that people might again be provoked into “rushing to the streets” should they suspect that justice was not being served in Corona’s impeachment trial.

Honasan said it would be good for all participants in the trial to keep silent until its start on Jan. 16.

“If you talk in public about impeachment proceedings, who is your audience? The one who weighs evidence is impeachment court, so what is your objective? To influence public opinion before proceedings,” Honasan said in an interview.

“I’m worried that we’d go back to our bad habit that whenever we lose patience over something, we would again decide the issue directly in the streets,” he added, referring to Edsa II that ousted President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said the impeachment court must exhibit impartiality because it would be “much on trial as the judiciary.”

“If the Senate proves this time that we can have an impartial hearing then it will show that our democracy works, that our Constitution works and we can go beyond politics,” Cayetano said in a dinner with Senate reporters last week.

“There’s a difference between a political trial, which is expected and part of the process, and partisan trial. When you say partisan, it means you have already taken sides right from the start,” he noted.