Corona’s bank records obtained illegally, says defense

MANILA, Philippines—Defense spokespersons Karen Jimeno and Tranquil Salvador III maintained on Tuesday that the manner by which the prosecution panel got hold of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona’s bank records was illegal and a violation of the bank secrecy law.

Speaking to reporters on Day 13 of the impeachment trial against Corona at the Senate, Jimeno reacted to lead prosecutor and Iloilo representative Niel Tupas Jr.’s statement that they received photocopies of the chief magistrate’s PSBank records from an anonymous source, saying that illegal means of acquiring bank documents should not be allowed.

“[The documents] should not be acquired through illegal means,” she said, adding that the prosecution’s source had criminal liabilities. She added that the issue was “complicated” as the Senate has issued a subpoena on the bank documents.

The defense panel was studying their next actions, Jimeno said, admitting that they were worried that Corona’s rights were being violated.

As his lawyers, the members of the defense panel were obligated to ensure that the Chief Justice’s rights were not violated in the course of the impeachment trial, she said. “They need to look for legal remedies.”

The defense panel also questioned the prosecution’s move to subpoena four associate justices to the trial. Jimeno said that such a move was “an attack at the Supreme Court’s integrity.”

She said that it was not right to have the justices appear before the impeachment court as witnesses against Corona. “They are colleagues, coequals [and] out of respect, they should not be used against each other.”

Jimeno said that it was different for the case of the defense panel to call on the justices as witnesses because they were not being asked to testify as adversaries of Corona. “They are necessary witnesses because they know certain facts on the [Supreme Court’s decision to not issue a] TRO [temporary restraining order].”