Bishop urges senators to ignore bickering between parties in Corona trial

MANILA, Philippines—A Catholic bishop called on senators who will sit as judges in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona to tune out the bickering between the defense lawyers and the prosecution panel from the House of Representatives.

“We are hoping that the proper bodies will not be unduly influenced by these obvious maneuvers by the two parties,” according to Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez.

The bishop, who chairs the public affairs committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, made the call in the run-up to the formal opening of Corona’s impeachment trial at the Senate on Monday.

Corona will be tried for betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption and culpable violation of the Constitution.

Iñiguez said it was expected of both parties to try to outdo each other particularly in a very politicized issue.

“[But] what is important is the judges will still be objective and [they will] rule on the matter based on the facts presented in the trial proper,” Iñiguez told reporters in a phone patch interview.

On Tuesday, Corona  asked the Senate impeachment court to impose sanctions on House prosecutors for what he described as “unbridled dissemination” of information and the release of purported evidence against him outside the impeachment trial.

The prosecution panel, led by Representative Niel Tupas Jr., earlier held a press conference disclosing that Corona owned a condo unit worth over P14 million at The Bellagio in Taguig City.

Responding to Corona’s call for sanctions, the prosecuting panel accused the chief justice of resorting to delaying tactics by trying to sidetrack the issue at hand.

Iñiguez also called on the public  to closely monitor the impeachment.

“We should be critical observers of the  proceedings… follow it closely and not make judgments immediately,” added the bishop.