Defense panel to present list of 15 witnesses

A senior Supreme Court official and an income analyst will be among at least 15 witnesses that the defense panel will present to support Chief Justice Renato Corona’s claim of innocence in his impeachment trial, his lawyers said on Sunday.

Lawyer Tranquil Salvador III said the defense would submit the list of witnesses at the resumption of the proceedings on Monday.

“Yes, the list will be ‘lean and mean,’” Salvador said. “We will present witnesses who will provide competent, substantial and factual testimonies directly related to the facts in issue.”

He said in a phone interview that the defense would focus only on the allegations specified in the impeachment complaint that it would have to dispute and contest.

In a text message, Ramon Esguerra, another defense lawyer, said Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal would take the witness stand for the defense to testify on the second of the eight articles of impeachment.

Article 2 alleges that Corona must be held liable for culpable violation of the Constitution for the nondisclosure of his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), an issue that practically consumed the first two weeks of the trial.

Vidal, under questioning by Sen. Franklin Drilon, provided copies of Corona’s SALNs to the Senate on the second day of the trial.

Estelito Mendoza

Esguerra said Vidal would also testify on the high court’s investigation on the plagiarism complaint against Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, the audit memorandum of the Commission on Audit and other high court rulings which the House prosecutors listed in the articles of impeachment.

“We will have an expert on income analysis and generation who is knowledgeable on the law, accounting, tax and auditing,” said Esguerra, who declined to name the witness.

An Inquirer source said veteran lawyer Estelito Mendoza might also be included in the defense lineup, but Salvador refused to confirm the information.

Mendoza wrote a letter to Corona which purportedly prompted the high court’s decision to act on the second motion for reconsideration filed by the Lucio Tan-owned Philippine Airlines (PAL) in the labor case involving dismissed flight attendants and stewards.

As if chiding the prosecution panel, Salvador said the defense would not use the presentation of witnesses “as a way to delay the proceedings.”

“In fact, we want a speedy disposition of the case,” he said. “In the interest of justice, we assure the public that we will only present witnesses who are competent to testify.”

Several senators, sitting as judges in the impeachment trial, have slammed the prosecution plan to present close to 100 witnesses.

“I wonder who’s delaying the impeachment trial now,” Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said.

The prosecution furnished the Senate list of witnesses and documentary evidence on Friday, in compliance with Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s order that the two camps identify their lineup.

Long trial feared

Noting the slow pace of the trial, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the prosecution’s long list of witnesses was “cause for concern.”

“If (the prosecutors) are serious about presenting all these witnesses, then we face the prospects of a prolonged trial. We have had six witnesses in the last two weeks,” Pangilinan said.

“If we maintain this pace, 100 witnesses will require 10 months of trial. This doesn’t include the witnesses for the defense.”

Also Sunday, the prosecution team announced that it planned to summon an immigration official to testify that Corona and his wife enjoyed privileges from PAL as the airline was pursuing a labor dispute in the Supreme Court.

The immigration official is one of five witnesses to be summoned by the prosecution to pin down Corona on Article 3 of the impeachment case for his alleged “failure to meet and observe the stringent standards of the Constitution.”

The other witnesses are representatives from PAL, Supreme Court, Prestige Travel Agency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. With a report from Gil C. Cabacungan