Senate votes 13-10 to obey TRO on Corona dollar accounts

Avoiding a potential constitutional crisis, the Senate on Monday voted 13-10 to comply with the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court barring the impeachment tribunal from examining the dollar accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Voting to respect the TRO were Senators Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Manuel Villar, Ralph Recto, Francis Escudero, Aquilino Pimentel III, Loren Legarda, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Revilla Jr., Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Against were Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senators Franklin Drilon, Sergio Osmeña III, Edgardo Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Pia Cayetano, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes IV, Manuel Lapid and Teofisto Guingona III who warned that the move could effectively shackle the impeachment court.

Issued on Thursday, the Supreme Court temporarily stopped the Senate from compelling the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) to disclose bank records of the Chief Justice pertaining to his foreign currency deposits until the high tribunal had looked into the merits of the PSBank petition.

Reading the result of the vote taken during a caucus hours earlier, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile stressed that the Senate had “the sole and exclusive jurisdiction to try and decide all impeachment cases,” the majority, nevertheless, decided to respect the TRO “insofar as foreign currency deposits are concerned” but not on the issue of his peso deposits.

Enrile, the presiding officer of the impeachment court, said that the Senate would contest the basis for the issuance of the TRO, which the high tribunal said was “indefinite until lifted.”

The Senate impeachment court and the House prosecution panel have been directed by the Supreme Court to file their comments within 10 days. In the meantime, however, the Senate is abiding by the ruling.

Enrile said “the Senate reserves the right to vigorously defend the issuance of subpoenas for the banks for the foreign deposit accounts.”  He said the Senate was prepared “to argue its case on the merits, and to defend the legal and public policy basis underlying its rulings about the said subpoenas.”

After lengthy manifestations of the senators on how they voted, the impeachment court proceeded with the testimony of PSBank officials who earlier testified that Corona had five peso deposit accounts amounting to P19.7 million (not P24 million as earlier reported).

Guingona’s fears

Guingona expressed fear at the result of the Senate compliance with the TRO and what he called were public concerns about the vote.

“Their question is—what will stop the Supreme Court to issue a second, a third, and later on, whatever we do here they  can run to the Supreme Court,” asked Guingona. “Isn’t this TRO just another use of technicality of the law to make it harder for us to find the truth? Will this not result in the bankruptcy of accountability, bankruptcy of transparency?”

“We, the graduates of the Philippine Military Academy, are not taught to be saints. We don’t even pretend to be one, and we don’t even pretend to be self-righteous. But when faced with a dilemma involving our work as public servants, we have been trained to always seek a moral high ground,” said Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant who served seven years in jail for a series of mutinies.

Trillanes stressed that the issue was “not a constitutional crisis but a moral crisis,” and that the Supreme Court had decided to “throw that concept of judicial restraint out the window and intervened in the affairs of the Senate as an impeachment court to protect and cover up [for] one of their own.”

Minority Leader Cayetano said that he did not receive a P100-million “in cash or nor in projects” in going against the decision of the majority. “But I did have a hundred million reasons to vote that way,” said Cayetano, explaining that it was not easy for a lawyer like him to go against the wishes of the justices of the high court. But he said that the high tribunal was becoming a venue where justices could “help” each other.

“This impeachment is search for the truth. What is being talked about here in this impeachment is fitness. At the end of the trial, it should be clear to us whether he should be removed … or is he still fit as Chief Justice?”

Estrada’s worries

Defending the majority decision, senators maintained that foreign currency accounts were of an “absolute” confidential nature.

Estrada explained that although “considered an ally of President Aquino,” he found it wise to favor the action of the Supreme Court.

“My family has been a victim of the past administration for not upholding the rule of law in various instances. Even the Supreme Court created a special court designed solely to convict former President Joseph Estrada. But we’ve always respected and abided by the decision of the court, whether adverse or not,” he said.

“Can our country afford a constitutional crisis? Can our country afford political instability … afford a clash between the legislative and the judiciary?  My answer is no,” said Estrada.

Legarda said there was no debate over the Senate’s role as the sole impeachment court. “If we will not follow the law that we ourselves crafted, how can we tell others to follow the laws if the Senate itself is disobeying them?”

“At this point, I can’t suppress the truth since the defense counsels themselves voluntarily promised to open the accounts, and we take their commitment. I chose to follow the law, and in doing so, I hope that this will lead the way in our search for truth,” said Legarda.

Slug it out in court

Escudero found the TRO “wrong,” but “the place to slug it out is not here but in the Supreme Court. I’m saddened by the fact that we even have to put this to a vote.”

“As a student of the law … we were taught to abide and fight for our right inside the court, not to disobey because it will entail anarchy in our country,” said Escudero.

“When we speak of morality and doing what is right, I am of the firm belief that in our search for the truth this does not, in any way, give us any right to violate the law,” said Escudero.