Corona lawyers furnish copies of SC petition to prosecution, Senate

MANILA, Philippines – Copies of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s petition before the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order on the subpoena on his bank records have been sent to the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives and the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, lawyers for the defense said Wednesday.

“The serving of the petition was part of the process before we formally file it with the Supreme Court this afternoon,” Tranquil Salvador III Salvador told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview before the filing of the petition for certiorari and prohibition with a prayer for a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction.

“What we’re saying is that the Senate should not issue a subpoena for the banks because the documents which the prosecution attached to their motion were acquired illegally,” he added.

The lawyer was referring to a specimen signature card which showed that Corona had opened a dollar account with $700,000 initial deposit in the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) branch in Katipunan, Quezon City in October 2008.

Meanwhile, Corona’s lawyers asked the Senate to defer the implementation of the subpoena it issued to officials of PS Bank and Bank of the Philippines Islands “until after the Supreme Court has had ample opportunity to act” on the chief justice’s petition.

The defense also urged the Senate to strike out from the records the testimony of Roberto Anduiza, president of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines Inc. (Fasap), who took the witness stand on Tuesday regarding the third of the eight articles of impeachment.

The defense said the discussion on the Fasap case was “well within the sub judice rule” which prohibits the discussion of cases still pending in the courts.