MANILA, Philippines—The impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, which kicks off Monday afternoon at the Senate, is a fight between the sovereign people and a chief justice who is perceived to be unfit to sit in the highest court of the land, Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. reiterated.
“This is not an issue between President Benigno Aquino and Chief Justice Renato Corona,” Tupas told the INQUIRER.
“This has become an issue between the people and the Chief Justice, whether the perceived bias to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Chief Justice betrayed public trust,” he stressed.
Tupas, as chief of the 11-man prosecuting team from the House of Representatives in the impeachment complaint against Corona, will deliver an eight-page, double-spaced opening statement that could last up to minutes at 2 pm, the start of the session of Senate sitting as an impeachment court.
Tupas said the prosecution and their private counsels will first enter their appearance before senator-judges.
He said he expected the defense to reiterate its motion for a preliminary hearing for verification of the complaint which it considered defective, and its request to subpoena him, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and other members of the House to testify on the swift passage in the House plenary of the impeachment complaint.
Tupas said the prosecution will argue that the verification of signatures was part of the initiative of impeachment which is an exclusive power of Congress.
He stressed that the approval of the complaint in the plenary meant it ceased to be an act of individual congressmen but an act of House as an institution.
“Once transmitted to the Senate, it is already an act of the sovereign people. Therefore, it should be accorded respect. Therefore, defense cannot anymore look beyond the document or the Articles of Impeachment, ” he said.
“The bottomline is this is an action of the House to impeach the Chief Justice. It’s with the legislature now to decide whether Chief Justice betrayed the public trust,” he said.
Tupas said the prosecution will also oppose the request to require some House members to testify, because “the defense cannot introduce extrinsic piece of evidence.”
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares, a House prosecutor, said he expected the defense to oppose the prosecution’s request to subpoena Corona and his entire family to testify on their supposed unexplained Colmenares also said he expected formal trial to start a week after.
Tupas said his opening statement will center on the power of the sovereign people vis-a-vis the impeachment proceeding.
The statement will cite documents of properties allegedly belonging to Corona, including condominium units at McKinley Hill, The Bellagio and Bonifacio Ridge in Global City, Taguig City; a condominium unit at The Columns in Makati; and a 1,200-square meter lot that was already transferred to daughter Carla at a price of P18 million at the posh La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City.
A source privy to the evidence of the prosecution said the prosecutors will present during the trial proper documents, including Condominium Certificates of Title, Transfer Certificates of Title and photographs of the properties.
The prosecution will also present documents to prove that “Carla has no source of income and her losing business ventures.”
“The prosecution will argue that the P18 million worth of lot is questionable as its zonal value is already P20.4 million, so the market value should be higher,” the same source said.
Meanwhile, Colmenares said he expected the Supreme Court, acting as a collegial body, to oppose his request to subpoena Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, the ponente of the decision on the temporary restraining order to the Department of Justice’s watchlist order on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and husband, Jose Miguel.
“We expect them to raise the issue of confidentiality of Supreme Court justices’ deliberations so we’re preparing for that,” he said.
Colmenares said all affidavits were ready for the prosecution of the article on the TRO which he and Deputy Speaker Raul Daza will handle.
Asked if he was impressed by the lineup of defense lawyers, Colmenares said, “definitely they are big names.”
He continued : “Former Justice Serafin Cuevas has been the lawyer in the impeacment cases of former President Joseph Estrada, former President Gloria Arroyo and former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, and now Corona so he must be good.”
Colmenares said that with such kind of line-up, the prosecution will not be overconfident. “But we believe that we’re on the side of truth, of what is right,” he added.