Prosecutors ready to move on to next charge

MANILA, Philippines—The prosecution said Saturday it was ready to rest its case with respect to Article 2 of the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona, claiming it had presented “proof beyond reasonable doubt” that the magistrate failed to disclose accurate statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

“We are ready to rest with Article 2 and take up Article 3 very briefly then to (Article) 7 this week,” said Marikina Representative Romero Quimbo, a spokesman for the prosecution.

Article 3 is about the Supreme Court’s flip-flopping on cases that the tribunal had already ruled as finally settled, and Corona’s alleged meeting with litigants in pending cases.

Article 7 pertains to alleged partiality in granting a temporary restraining order in favor of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo in order to give them an opportunity to escape prosecution and to frustrate the ends of justice.

Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr.,  head of the prosecution, said his team was able to present damning evidence on Corona’s undeclared assets.

“What we presented was already proof beyond reasonable doubt,”  Tupas told the Inquirer in an interview. “This is the sum of all nightmares of lawyers. How can you answer all this evidence. It seems respondent Corona is not disclosing everything to his counsel. This is the sum of all fears of all lawyers, when the client is not telling the truth.”

Tupas said one could notice the disbelief on the part of the defense lawyers whenever presented with evidence not previously known to them.

“To me, it has become indefensible at this time with all the evidence being presented,” Tupas said.

Tupas said many private individuals, most with personal knowledge of documents and assets of Corona had had approached the prosecution to help.

“My feeling is, there are really many people who are helping us. I can say that it’s really the people who are helping us.  And it gives us strength, it boosts our morale against all odds in the Senate in facing veteran trial lawyers,” Tupas said.

Tupas rejected the notion that his group was not adequately prepared for the legal battle compared with  their counterparts in the defense.

He said the defense’s strategy to make the prosecutors look incompetent in the media “backfired” on  their client.

“The mere fact that they went to the Supreme Court to stop the proceedings shows already that they have no defense. It’s a desperate act that leads to a very weak defense,” Tupas said.

“It seems the chief justice entered this trial not in good faith. It’s only now that they go to the Supreme Court when the peso and dollar accounts were based on the grounds that are existing in the impeachment complaint,” he added.

Quimbo also said that unidentified private individuals had volunteered information about Corona, including much about his Corona’s personal life.

“But we don’t we don’t want to deal with (Corona’s personal life) since it’s not in the articles of impeachment,” he said.

In contrast, he said, Corona’s recent public statements about the impeachment trial completely revealed his transformation into a politician.

Corona has been attacking President Aquino, the House of Representatives, senators and even fellow justices in speeches, a clear departure from past chief justices who always observed decorum, Quimbo said.

He said people can no longer expect Corona to be impartial when cases involving executive action is brought to the Supreme Court.

“His actions have only made his remaining in office untenable. Before he starts acting like a politician, he should first get elected. If he wants to attack other people and talk on top of soapboxes, he should resign first and run for office,” Quimbo said.