Corona’s SC petition no disrespect to Senate—lawyers

MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Renato Corona’s petition for a temporary restraining order against the impeachment proceedings that was filed before the Supreme Court Wednesday wasn’t meant to disrespect the Senate, defense lawyers said.

Karen Jimeno said they were not violating the Constitution with their petition because they were only asking questions of law which only the high court had powers over. “Incidental matters should be brought to the appropriate institution.”

She said they were not asking the Supreme Court to look into matters under the jurisdiction of the impeachment court. She explained that the defense team wanted to avoid further delay and they filed the petition so that “ngayon pa lang… [we are bringing up] questions of law, para madesisyunan na [so that it can be decided on].”

Rico Paolo Quicho said that as the chief magistrate’s lawyers, they had to file the petition “to protect the interest and rights of our client.” He denied that the petition was their “last straw” to defend Corona and said that it was just the “culmination ng mga pagkakataon, hinubog ng panahon.”

Citing a statement by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that the issues of the bank records was a gray area, lawyer Tranquil Salvador III said that there were issues that only the high tribunal could determine.

Jimeno said that they brought up the issue of the validity of the impeachment complaint, among others. She explained that the issue was a question of law and should therefore be under the Supreme Court.

On the issue that the defense’s petition was disrespecting the Senate, Salvador implored “can we pause and think? Huwag naman kami husgahan.” He said that they were like “daga na nasa corner walang tatakbuhan [rats trapped in a corner with nowhere to go].”

Salvador however, was quick to clarify that the petition was not made in desperation. “May batas na pwedeng gamitin, andyan ang mga proseso, gamitin natin ito. Walang may gusto ng constitutional crisis.”

“The petition is not an extraordinary event as it also happens in common trials,” added Quicho, stressing that they respected the impeachment court “ngunit sa pagtakbo ng trial may kamalian, kakulangan na nangyayari. May karapatan kami sumangguni sa Supreme Court para maitama ang mga mali.”

Quicho said that their petition was an acknowledgement of the Supreme Court as an institution and that their asking for assistance did not mean that the executive and judiciary branches of the government would clash.

“[Ito ay] paggalang sa rule of law. Kung may hindi katanggap-tanggap, saan kami pupunta?” Salvador asked.

He added that they did not even know yet whether the Supreme Court would act on their petition but that they were “not hiding anything.”

“In the meantime kailangan itigil muna ang proseso,” said Salvador. Quicho clarified that the impeachment proceedings would stop as a “natural consequence of the dismissal of the complaint”. With a report from Matikas Santos