2 lawyers ask SC to stop impeachment trial (again)

MANILA, Philippines—A third urgent motion has been filed in the Supreme Court for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

In a three-page pleading, lawyers Homobono Adaza and Alan Paguia on Friday said the high court should intervene because some senator-judges were displaying “unseemly and partial behavior” and acting like “senator-prosecutors.”

They said Senators Franklin Drilon, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Pangilinan, Edgardo Angara, Aquilino Pimentel III, Jinggoy Estrada, Panfilo Lacson and Francis Escudero were “badgering witnesses just so the points which could not be achieved by the House prosecutors could be obtained.”

Adaza and Paguia said there were compelling reasons for their pleading. “The Senate assuming jurisdiction on a mere scrap of paper and its continuance to proceed with the trial have led to serious misinterpretation of the provisions of the Constitution, resulting [in] distortions of the fundamental legal document, which should never be allowed to proliferate,” they said.

They said these “distortions” included the Senate’s decision to proceed with the trial despite the lack of verification of the articles of impeachment, the senators’ argument that the high court could not review the acts of the impeachment court, and the senators’ “disregard” of the provisions of the rules of court during the trial.

Why is defense participating?

Paguia and Adaza’s latest pleading is related to the case they filed on Jan. 3, which asked the high court to stop the impeachment trial on the grounds of alleged defects in the articles of impeachment adopted by the House of Representatives.

The original case was among the five similar cases consolidated on Tuesday by the high court, which gave the respondents—the Senate and the House—10 days to comment.

In an interview with reporters, Adaza and Paguia accused the Senate of “wasting public funds” for continuing to hold a “questionable” impeachment trial.

“The people should not be misled. Only the Supreme Court can resolve this issue,” Paguia said.

Paguia assailed Corona’s defense team for continuing to take part in the trial.

“I’m sad because they’re not questioning [the basis of the impeachment]. Why are they participating in this actively? It’s not the Senate that has the final word on this. It’s the Constitution, which only the Supreme Court can interpret,” Paguia said.