Speaker Belmonte sees prosecution trimming articles of impeachment down to 3

MANILA, Philippines—From the original eight, only three articles of impeachment may remain in order to speed up the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said Monday.

“I foresee that it will be more or less three [articles that will be left],” Belmonte said in an ambush interview with reporters.

“I think the prosecutors themselves have been talking about it and they are more knowledgeable,” he said, referring to the plan to discard some of the articles in the original complaint.

More than a month has passed since the impeachment trial began on January 16, and the prosecution has only been able to present evidence and witnesses on Article 2 of impeachment, which accuses Chief Justice Renato Corona of failure to disclose his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, or SALNs.

The prosecution has repeatedly blamed the numerous objections raised by the defense panel as the cause of the delay in the proceedings, accusing the defense of conducting a “trial by technicalities.” Some senators have cited the prosecution’s not being properly versed in litigation as the reason why the trial cannot proceed smoothly.

Members of the prosecution have said that they were thinking of reducing the articles so the trial could end before the senate takes a break during the Holy Week.

“The idea that we should try to abbreviate [the trial] is a general perception among the prosecutors,” Belmonte said.

The prosecution said previously that they planned to finish the impeachment trial by March 12. Belmonte said that it “looks like a reasonable date.”

“I go along with it, definitely,” Belmonte said.