‘No room for error in impeachment trial’
THE senator-judges will exert utmost prudence and deliberation to ensure a fair verdict in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said yesterday.
Since there is no appeal, Marcos said it is important that the impeachment court should “get it right.”
He said the impeachment trial is a ‘strange creature’ which the Senate has to work on and adjust to everyday.
“Yes, we want to hurry it up but at the same time we have to be very,very careful and thorough and very, very procedurally correct,” he said.
Marcos said the trial has redefined the working ties between the three branches of government.
For one, Marcos said he finds it unusual that the Aquino administration had been vocal about its support to the prosecution panel.
“It’s deemed improper in most cases but what can we do if that’s the way the President handles it?” he said.
The senator said the impeachment trial will resume on March 12 but the presentation of evidence may end past May 6 or two months after Congress adjourns for its break.
Marcos said the legal counsel for Chief Justice Renato Corona is expected not to finish its presentation of evidence on or before March 23, the last session day for Congress.
Marcos admitted that the impeachment trial has resulted in a sizable backlog of work.
The senator said he agreed with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that the trial will grind to a halt until Corona is placed as witness.
But Marcos said he doesn’t see that coming anytime soon.
He said the senator-judges will also deliberate on the sanctions to be imposed on private prosecutor Vitaliano Aguirre who was cited in contempt by the impeachment court.
“Truth be told, it’s not usual for the lawyer to disrespect the judge. He should not have done what he did,” Marcos said of Aguirre’s decision to cover his ears during a tirade by Sen. Miriam Santiago on the prosecution panel.
Former senator Francisco Tatad, who was also present during yesterday’s press conference, said the difference with this year’s impeachment court is the Senate’s decision to eliminate the counsel’s right to object.
Tatad was one of the senator-judges in the 2000 impeachment trial of former president Joseph Estrada.
Sen. Marcos said they will codify some of the rulings they made after the trial for future reference. /Carmel Loise Matus, Correspondent
