MANILA, Philippines—Chief Justice Renato Corona’s lawyers were out to “confuse the proceedings” when they accused the Palace of trying to convince senator-judges to defy the Supreme Court order stopping the presentation of his foreign currency deposits, Malacañang said on Sunday.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa denied the charges against him in a statement Sunday night. He said the senator-judges had “shown that they are more than capable of making the decisions necessary to ensure that the Chief Justice receives a fair and impartial trial.” He said “citing rumors to prove baseless accusations … goes against the principles of decent and ethical lawyering.”
“The defense counsel’s press conference is an example of how you should not believe everything you hear. There is a lot of loose talk and idle—not to mention malicious— speculation going around. It is incumbent on people who should know better not to fall for every conspiracy theory whispered to you,” the President’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said in a separate statement.
“In contrast to the clarity and consistency of the President’s advocacy for accountability, transparency and reform, the defense panel of the Chief Justice prefers squid tactics. Their conspiracy theories concerning the executive secretary is a diversionary tactic to distract attention from the evidence coming to light in the impeachment trial,” Lacierda said.
He said defense lawyers were resorting to “squid tactics” because of “growing mounting evidence” against Corona.
“We can only surmise that the defense has run out of ways to conceal the culpability of its client, and has engineered this move as a last-ditch effort to confuse the proceedings and prevent a resolution,” Lacierda said.
He said the Palace did not think the Senate or the people would “fall for such a brazen strategy” as he noted that Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP) had called on Corona to disclose his dollar accounts now.
“The only danger in the disclosure of the Chief Justice’s assets, is the Chief Justice’s defense: the integrity of the banking system, our system of laws, the cause of justice and good governance are not endangered by the proceedings of the impeachment court,” Lacierda said.
“The case has been joined. The parties cannot walk away from the constitutionally ordained procedure to resolve this case. Stop running, and stop hiding. Face your accusers, and let justice be done,” he added.
Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas, chief House prosecutor, said the accusation against Ochoa was “very irresponsible,” pointing out that Corona’s lawyers could not identify the source of their information.
He said Corona was “trying to demonize the Executive, and blackmail the Senate to vote in their favor as part of their mind-conditioning strategy.”—With a report from Michael Lim Ubac