Defense lauds Enrile move to disallow PAL exec’s testimony

MANILA, Philippines – The defense lauded Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s move to disallow an official of the Philippine Airlines to testify on Article 3 of the Articles of Impeachment against Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Article 3 alleges that Corona “committed culpable violations of the Constitution and betrayed the public trust by failing to meet and observe the stringent standards under Article VIII Section 7(3) of the Constitution that provides that ‘a member of the Judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence in allowing the Supreme Court to act on mere letter filed by a counsel which caused the issuance of flip-flopping decisions in final and executory cases; in creating an excessive entanglement with Mrs. Arroyo through her appointment of his wife to office and in discussing with litigants regarding cases pending before the Supreme Court.”

The prosecution was to have presented Enrique Javier, PAL vice president for sales, who would have testified on the alleged perks that Corona and his wife Cristina received from PAL while a labor case against the airline was pending before the Supreme Court.

But Enrile disallowed Javier’s testimony, saying that allegations that the Coronas were afforded special privileges by PAL were not part of Article 3.

Lawyer Tranquil Salvador III recognized Enrile’s action as a move to ensure that the prosecution panel would not go past the allegations in Article 3 which covers Corona’s alleged hand in the flip-flopping decisions by the high tribunal on the PAL labor dispute, his connection with former president, now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who appointed his wife to office, among others.

Enrile’s move showed that he sought to straighten out the impeachment proceedings, lawyer Rico Paolo Quicho added. He likened what the prosecutors tried to do as shooting at any area for possible points because they could not hit the bull’s eye.

Lawyer Karen Jimeno said that in disallowing Enrique’s testimony, Enrile had upheld the rule of law.

Salvador added that they would only trim down the number of their witnesses on the premise that the prosecution team would also reduce the articles of impeachment. He said they would answer three articles if those are the only articles that the prosecution would present.

Should the articles of impeachment be reduced to three, Salvador estimated the time they would take to present their evidence to last roughly a month and a half. “Mabilis na iyan para sa amin… [ngunit] ayaw namin itali ang kamay namin,” he said, clarifying that many things can happen throughout the proceedings and that they may need more time.

Quicho said they had to consider that there were 23 senator-judges who may have each their own views and interests.

Quicho added that they faced recent developments with “guided optimism” rather than confidence, saying “hindi ito palakasan ng loob pero palakasan ng ebidensya.”