Corona asks Senate to keep family out of impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines — Invoking the sanctity of his marriage, Chief Justice Renato Corona has asked the Senate to deny prosecutors’ demand that he and his entire family be made to appear and testify in the impeachment court on 45 properties allegedly under their names.

Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina AFP FILE PHOTO

“It is sad to think that the alleged quest for truth and accountability being pursued by the House of Representatives amounts to nothing more than a brutal assault on the unity of the Corona family,” the Chief Justice said in an eight-page opposition filed by his lawyer Jose Roy III on Monday night.

“Their dogged determination to remove CJ Corona from office has not spared even his innocent loved ones.”

House prosecutors led by Representative Niel Tupas Jr. filed the motion requiring the Coronas to testify and produce documents in connection with 45 properties allegedly listed under their names, as per a letter from the Land Registration Authority.

Corona vehemently denied owning such properties, except for five houses.

“Obviously, the request for subpoenae is an attempt to introduce irrelevant and immaterial evidence as a point of political pressure,” his camp said in the opposition to the House motion.

“The failure to show any relevance or materiality of the evidence sought to be adduced can only mean that the request for the issuance of subpoenae is malicious and unwarranted.”

Corona’s lawyer said that forcing the Chief Justice to testify and produce documents in connection with the alleged properties would be tantamount to “a compulsion to provide evidence which will be used against him in the impeachment trial proceedings.”

Corona said his wife Cristina should not be made to testify in the trial, citing the principle of “spousal privilege.”

“[She] may not be compelled to testify against Chief Justice Corona, except with his consent. Surely, the other two exceptions stated in the rule—a civil case by one against the other, or in a criminal case for a crime committed against by one against the other or the latter’s direct descendants or ascendants—have no relevance here,” his lawyer argued.

“Clearly, the sanctity of the marital bond between Chief Justice and Mrs. Corona takes precedence in law over claims of prosecutorial prerogatives.”

Corona cited the constitutional provision on “parental and filial privilege” in asking the Senate not to summon his children in the impeachment trial.

“Prosecutorial privilege may not be exercised in a manner that would ultimately destroy the sanctity of the Corona family,” according to the opposition.

His camp noted that his children were “over the age of majority and therefore possess full legal capacity to own and possess property in their own right.”

“By the same token, their acquisition of property is right personal to them and is not legally premised on legal right derived from CJ Corona,” he said. “More importantly, there is no allegation that any of the properties in their names truly to other belong to other persons, much less CJ Corona.”

Corona also questioned the prosecution’s move to subpoena even son-in-law, Constantino Castillo, in connection with the alleged properties. He said the motion was “irrelevant and immaterial” because the alleged Castillo properties did not bear “any relation to the issues in the impeachment trial.”