Speaker defends prosecution: I think they are pretty good

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday said the House of Representatives was pleased with the prosecution panel’s performance in its bid to secure the conviction of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Belmonte dismissed criticism by members of the Senate tribunal that the prosecutors were unprepared and that allies of President Benigno Aquino III were helping them and had turned the impeachment trial into a Senate investigation.

“I think they are pretty good,” Belmonte said.

“People keep on talking about ineptness here or not good grammar there and so on so forth, but at the end of the day, they are getting their message across and that is the most important thing,” he told reporters at the Senate.

Belmonte said he came to the Senate with at least 16 congressmen, including Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, to support the prosecution panel led by Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr.

“I think since the start of the impeachment, this is only the second time that I myself requested more than the usual contingent. Usually, there are 15 (congressmen), in addition to the prosecutors, who come around,” he said.

On Quezon City Representative Jorge Banal being put on the spot for possession of what the defense claimed were illegally obtained bank documents of Corona with Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank), Belmonte said he was not aware of Banal’s involvement.

“But at any rate, I think that is a device being used to get away from the main thing, which is the trial of the Chief Justice. Anything that sidetracks with that, I think,  is not good,” the Speaker said.

Banal’s attempt to secure a confirmation of the authenticity of purported copies of Corona’s bank account with PSBank was revealed by the prosecution witness, Annabelle Tiongson, manager of the PSBank branch on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

Asked if the prosecution would reduce the eight articles of impeachment to abbreviate the proceedings, Belmonte said it was up to the prosecutors involved because “they were more knowledgeable.”

“I go along with it. I don’t know that March 12 is the date they are targeting,” he said.