Defense unhappy over senators ‘acting like prosecutors’

MANILA, Philippines—Defense lawyers on Wednesday expressed concern that some senators were acting as “substitutes” for fumbling House prosecutors in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Serafin Cuevas, Corona’s lead counsel, lamented how Sen. Franklin Drilon took the floor and compelled Enriqueta Vidal, clerk of court of the Supreme Court, to provide the Senate copies of Corona’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth when she appeared on the witness stand on Wednesday.

Cuevas said the defense panel may eventually seek relief from the high tribunal “if we feel that their actions were already constitutive of grave abuse of discretion.”

“They (senators) are judges. They shall remain impartial and shall decide on the basis of the Constitution and the law,” Cuevas said in a news briefing after the trial Wednesday night.

“If only they let the prosecution ask questions, those documents (SALNs) would not have been disclosed. But Drilon intervened. I tried to object, but they said it cannot be done so I withdrew my objection,” he said in Filipino.

Vidal, who initially told the court she did not bring Corona’s SALNs with her, reluctantly turned over copies of the documents under grilling by Drilon, one of President Aquino’s staunchest allies and a senior partymate in the ruling Liberal Party.

Drilon’s intervention saved the presentation of private prosecutor Mario Bautista, who failed to ask Vidal if she had the documents in her possession.

According to Cuevas, Drilon’s actions aided the House panel in securing Corona’s SALNs, which were later marked as part of the prosecution evidence.

“If a senator is asking a question, we cannot raise an objection even if we feel that the senator-judge was already acting as a prosecutor. We will be overruled. I hope we will have that right or privilege to object.” he said.

Asked if he was alarmed by Drilon’s behavior, he said: “Of course, I’m just human. But we still recognize their authority because they are the judges.”

“While you don’t agree with some of their actions, you have to go and unless it is very clear that they are already trampling on our rights, then that’s the right time (to seek relief from the court),” he said.

Jose Roy III, another defense lawyer, said he shared Cuevas’ apprehension, noting that the House panel was able to “get what it wanted without having to do anything.”

“After the prosecution lawyers presented their case and the defense succeeded in blocking them, at the end of the session it’s as if the prosecution panel succeeded,” Roy lamented.

Asked if he thought some senators acted as lawyers for the prosecution, he said: “I’m not saying anything. I’m just telling you what happened.”

Roy added: “The way the litigation is going, it seems we have more opponents than what appear in the tables. While we were successful in the defense of our client, we didn’t know that there will be substitutes who were going to come in play. But that’s just the way it is.”