Corona impeachment trial resumes

MANILA, Philippines—The Senate acting as an impeachment court has resumed with 13 witnesses, including the Supreme Court Clerk of Court , expected to testify in the trial.

The impeachment trial started at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

The prosecution team is expected to submit the order of presentation so that the Senate and the defense team would be notified of the case and witnesses to be presented during the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The defense team on Tuesday objected when the prosecutors offered to present the second, instead of the first of eight articles of impeachment filed against Corona.

But Quezon Representative Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, a spokesman of the prosecution, said they would insist on Article 2, which is the alleged failure of Corona to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, at Wednesday’s resumption of the trial.

Aside from Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta Esguerra-Vidal, six city assessors and six registers of deeds of Marikina City, Quezon City, Taguig City, Makati City, Pasay City and Paranaque City were also subpoenaed to testify before the impeachment court.

The prosecutors sought the appearance of Vidal along with the sworn statement of assets, liabilities and net worth of Corona from 2002 to 2011, while the city assessors and registers of deeds were asked to bring with them documents pertaining to Corona’s alleged properties.