Filipinos should discuss merits of Corona impeachment, Palace aide says

Press Undersecretary Abigail Valte INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – A Malacañang Palace aide encouraged Filipinos on Saturday to discuss among themselves the merits of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona and see if the magistrate is guilty of the charges on the basis of the evidence so far presented.

A day after declaring President Benigno Aquino III was free to discuss the merits of the case in public, Abigail Valte, one of his spokespersons, enjoined the public to do likewise among themselves.

“All the people are talking about the merits of the case,” Valte said on the state-run radio station dzRB.

She was asked about the admonition of the Senate impeachment court that senator-judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys refrain from discussing the merits of the case outside of the Senate’s session hall.

Valte said that the admonition applied only to the parties in the case and President Aquino was not one.

“That’s the only one we should talk about because that is the meat of the case,” Valte said, referring to the merits of the case.

The President has been criticized for discussing the merits of the case in a speech before students on Thursday.

Aquino said Corona’s statements of net worth only showed P3.5 million in bank accounts while the evidence presented in court showed his peso deposits at more than P30 million.