Bishops urges both sides in Corona trial to avoid technicalities

MANILA, Philippines—Some Catholic bishops  are asking both the prosecution and defense not to get too caught up with legal technicalities and jargon  for the sake of the Filipino masses who want to keep up with the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Over the Church-run Radio Veritas, Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros asked if  it might be possible for both prosecution and defense to use Filipino once in a while in the course of the trial at the Senate, which began on Monday.

“Admittedly, it is difficult to translate legal terms into  Filipino but I hope they find a way to explain it well enough for the common people to understand… they can take it down a level for the Filipino masses,” according to Oliveros.

“It’s not the technicalities that’s important but the truth in the issue,” he said, adding it was important that the public understood the trial so they could make the right judgments on the matter later on.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes also suggested another way to make the proceedings comprehensible to the public, especially those without legal background: that media invite lawyers who can annotate the trial in Filipino while being aired on television.

In making such suggestion, Bastes appealed to the media to help the ordinary people understand what’s happening in the trial, which is also being followed by Filipinos abroad.

Meanwhile, Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad and Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez praised Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for handling well the impeachment trial, the first for a Philippine chief justice.

Gutierrez described the trial as “solemn, orderly and well-managed.”

“I hope we will also behave as well, be very patient, prudent and we won’t make any comment that will only worsen what is already a very difficult case,” said Gutierrez, also on Radio Veritas.

Jumoad added: “My prayer is that the senator-judges would be objective and fair in the hearing.”