Senator Marcos relieved Aquino stopped word war with Corona
MANILA, Philippines—Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed relief Monday after President Benigno Aquino III has decided to stop his word war with Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“I’m glad that he has taken that position and I think that he will find that it is the correct decision and it will help the trial proceed more orderly and therefore to be finished more quickly,” Marcos said.
“I’m guessing that he has come to see that it is really not helpful for anyone … because it just serves to confuse,” he added.
Aquino had been repeatedly issuing statements in public against Chief Justice Renato Corona while the trial was ongoing. Corona countered with public statements against the President.
Senator Marcos expressed the hope that Corona would also end his public pronouncements against the President “because that is the proper policy to adopt.”
He said that both sides should end their word war as he said that only the things that happen in the impeachment court will matter and not the things that both the President and the Chief Justice say against each other.
“The confusion will be lessened (if they stop talking against each other) and it will be much easier for everyone, not only for the senator-judges, but also the viewing public,” Marcos said.
Conscience vote
Marcos also said that the final decision on the impeachment trial “is going to be a conscience vote.”
“It is up to each senator to decide whether or not the quantum of evidence is sufficient to show that the respondent has committed an offense, (and) whether or not that offense is impeachable is a determination that will be made by each and every individual senator,” Marcos said.
“Essentially, it is a political decision and there is no legal definition and we cannot refer to decided cases, we cannot refer to the letter of the law in terms of where the violation or the wrongdoing rises to the level of an impeachable offense,” he said.
Marcos said that whether the offense of the Chief Justice was on the level of high crime such as bribery and treason will have to be determined “by [each senator] according to his own judgment.”
Marcos said that there are “no strict rules … no appeal and no need for us to explain our vote.” He added that “it is going to be a conscience vote.”
It is because the nature of the impeachment trial is “quasi-political,” Marcos explained. “It is impossible to define that threshold, because of that quasi-political part. If it was purely judicial we have rules that we can follow, but an impeachment [trial] is quasi-political and that’s where the uncertainties creep in.”
